NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Yuba Community College District on Thursday announced it will be installing 958 kilowatts (kW) of elevated solar support structures and 300 kilowatts/600 kilowatt hours of energy storage technology at the Marysville campus and 313 kW of elevated solar support structures and 300 kilowatts/600 kilowatt hours of energy storage technology for the Woodland campus.

Borrego Solar Systems – a California-based developer, installer, and operations and maintenance provider of commercial solar and energy storage projects – expects to begin construction on the systems when school is out for the summer.

“The board is very pleased to announce the newest Solar projects for the Yuba Community College District, in our continued efforts to generate and store clean renewable energy. I characterize this announcement as a win, win for the District and community,” said Board President Michael Pasquale. “Win one will be a reduction in our carbon footprint. Win two will be lowering our operating costs. The staff and administrators have once again done an outstanding job of looking for innovative solutions that will have a residual and sustainable impact on student success.”

The solar energy installations at the Marysville and Woodland campuses are expected to provide enough energy to meet approximately 85 percent and 100 percent of each campus’ remaining energy needs, respectively.

YCCD estimates it will save approximately $77,000 and $87,000 in energy costs from the solar and the energy storage projects annually.

Purchased with Clean Renewable Energy Bonds, the solar energy systems will generate clean power for the District for at least the next 25 years.

“The YCCD Governing Board and leadership is committed to reducing our carbon footprint for our students and community. This is the environmentally responsible action to take and it will result in substantial cost savings that will lower our operating costs,” said Dr. Douglas Houston, Chancellor. “Additionally, the District’s use of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to finance this project allows the District to apply Measure J General Obligation Bond funds to other important and needed facilities projects that directly impact student success.”

The installation is expected to offset around 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, which is the equivalent of taking nearly 450 cars off the road for a year or the amount of carbon sequestered by about 2,450 acres of U.S. forests in one year.

The energy generated will be net-metered, meaning that any of the solar energy not consumed by the campus will be fed onto the local electricity grid and credited back to Yuba CCD.