The First Facility Management Blog

The Anheuser-Busch Fairfield brewery announced that more than 6 acres of photovoltaic solar arrays, installed and operated by SunEdison, are now generating the equivalent of approximately 3% of the brewery’s electricity needs.

“Operating with care and concern for the environment has been a hallmark of Anheuser-Busch for more than century,” said Kevin Finger, general manager, Anheuser-Busch Fairfield brewery. “Our increased use of alternative energy sources is the latest example of how we strive to be the best beer company in a better world.”

Last year, the brewery entered into an agreement with SunEdison to host the solar power plant on brewery property. The brewery also constructed a Bio-Energy Recovery System, or BERS, which provides more than 15% of the brewery’s fuel needs by turning nutrients in brewing wastewater into renewable biogas used to decrease the use of natural gas.

These two projects are the latest in a series of conservation and efficiency improvements at the Fairfield brewery. Examples of recent efforts include a project to recover steam to heat water in the brewhouse, which reduced greenhouse gas emissions; installation of more efficient boiler burners and new energy-efficient air compressors; and replacing brewery lighting with energy-efficient fixtures on timers. Through resource conservation and alternative fuel usage, the brewery has decreased fuel use by 38%, water use by 32%, and electricity use by 14% since 2004.

“Anheuser-Busch has been a good neighbor to Fairfield and the surrounding communities for more than 30 years,” said State Senator Lois Wolk (D-5), who represents the region. “They have earned their reputation as not only a top employer in the area, but as a business doing the right thing for the environment, even before it was popular.”

The brewery also currently recycles more than 99 percent of the solid waste it generates, continuing a tradition dating back to the late 1800s when Anheuser-Busch first recycled brewers’ grain into cattle feed. Materials recycled at the Fairfield brewery include scrap aluminum and metal, glass, cardboard, wood, brewing grain, beechwood chips, stretch wrap and labels, electronic equipment and batteries. This amounted to nearly 200 million pounds of recycled materials in 2008 alone. For these efforts, the Fairfield brewery has been honored 15 times by the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

“Anheuser-Busch has taken a strong leadership role in protecting natural resources and using energy wisely and efficiently. By hosting a PV solar energy system, Anheuser-Busch is part of America’s new energy future. SunEdison is proud to support them today and for decades to come,” said Kirk Roller, vice president of SunEdison.

The ground mount solar system, sizeable at nearly 1.2 MW, is located on Anheuser-Busch property near California Highway 80. As part of the solar power services agreement, SunEdison financed, installed, and is operating and monitoring the photovoltaic solar energy system. The system will also generate Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for businesses or individuals to purchase to offset their use of fossil fuel energy and greenhouse gas emissions. The brewery is also evaluating the installation of a wind turbine and additional photovoltaic solar arrays on-site to generate more renewable energy.

Renewable fuel at Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. breweries is anticipated to reach more than 15% by the end of 2009. This means more than five billion 12 ounce servings of beer - or about one in seven beers brewed by the company in the United States - are expected to be brewed using renewable fuel by the end of 2009*, thanks to efforts at Anheuser-Busch’s 12 U.S. breweries.

As a member of the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Program, Anheuser-Busch has committed to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 5 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2010 for all of its U.S. operations. The company has also committed to increasing the total use of renewable fuel from 8 percent to 15 percent in the same time period company-wide.

Solar Energy Systems (SES) and Big Sue, LLC have commissioned the first commercial net metered solar photovoltaic (PV) system in New York City. The 40 kW DC PV system has been installed atop Big Sue’s office building in Brooklyn, New York. The system sends unused power back to the electrical network grid operated by Consolidated Edison of New York (Con Edison).

This solar PV system is operating atop Big Sue's office building in Brooklyn.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest commercial net-metered PV system located on a network grid in the United States. It sets a precedent for future solar installations in New York City and around the country, where utility interconnectivity issues have plagued the installation of commercial PV systems on network grids,” said SES president and CEO David Buckner.

Headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, SES is an integrator of solar power systems. The company designed and installed this latest project. Big Sue, also based in Brooklyn, is a general contracting and consulting firm specializing in green building design and construction.

The Impetus
In keeping with the State’s mission to diversify New Yorkers’ energy use and promote renewable energy technologies, Governor David A. Paterson signed legislation expanding New York’s net metering laws to non-residential customers in August 2008.

Governor Paterson stated, “Now New York businesses who invest in solar energy are allowed to sell excess generation back to the utility grid, often at times when it’s most needed. The solar energy system at Big Sue will relieve stress on New York City’s overburdened electrical infrastructure by delivering locally generated, clean solar energy. The companies involved in this milestone project are building New York State’s green collar workforce in support of our renewable energy industries.”

In acknowledging the significance of this project Con Edison’s vice president of engineering and planning, John Mucci, noted that “Con Edison encourages customers like Big Sue and SES to find innovative ways to be energy efficient and provide clean renewable energy while interconnected with our grids.”

Big Sue co-owner, Susan Boyle, also gave credit to SES, saying, “They knew the critical criteria and supported us on our mission.” Adding, “We wouldn’t have worked with anyone else. Because of SES’s track record they were the only choice.” According to Boyle, the company researched a range of energy options for its commercial property- including geothermal and peak shaving battery back-up devices, but chose solar because of the simplicity afforded by net-metering.

Commercial properties with large roof areas are prime locations for solar electric systems. The customized array sitting atop Big Sue’s building (located at 925 Bergen Street in Brooklyn) converts sunlight into electricity and is equipped with a net meter that connects directly to Con Edison’s grid. This direct connectivity enables Big Sue to “sell back” its unused energy to the utility, with Big Sue receiving billing credit for all excess power produced by the solar panels and redelivered to the Con Edison network.

Michael Coddington, a senior engineer with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), who toured the site of SES’s installation, was impressed by the net meter, grid connectivity and sophisticated energy plan (which includes radiant floor heating). “Pretty unique,” said Coddington, “and after review an excellent example. Also, as one of the first commercial buildings that can send power back to the grid Big Sue’s PV system is a groundbreaker in more ways than one. They took an old dilapidated building, made the investment in solar technology, and brought it back to life. It’s really cool,” he concluded.

Constellation Brands, Inc., an international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol brands, is in the process of implementing the world’s largest winery solar energy system at its Gonzales, CA, facility. The company anticipates the project to be completed in early this year.

This winery in Gonzales, CA will have 6,358 solar panels on its roof.

Once in place, the solar energy system is expected to produce more than 1.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which will provide approximately 50% of the winery’s total energy requirements. Electricity will also be exported to local residential customers during the winery’s non-peak use periods.

Through partnerships with Pacific Power Management, Mitsubishi Electric, and Pacific Gas and Electric, 6,358 solar panels are being installed on the roof of the main building at the Gonzales winery, which is located near Monterey, CA. The project, which is designed to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is estimated through the lifetime of the system to annually reduce the facility’s carbon footprint in an amount equivalent to planting 2,500 acres of trees, not driving an average automobile 25 million miles, or taking more than 2,000 automobiles off the road. Wines produced at Gonzales include Robert Mondavi Private Selection, Solaire by Robert Mondavi, Black Box and Hayman & Hill.

Other Efforts Around The Globe
In 2007, Constellation Brands implemented a global CSR platform that is based upon three pillars: sustainable business practices (environmental efforts), philanthropy (corporate giving), and social responsibility (addressing the societal impact of beverage alcohol). Founded 60 years ago, the company is based in Fairport, NY, with market presence in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.

In Canada, Constellation’s Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin wineries at Niagara-on-the-Lake in southern Ontario province have partnered locally with Vandermeer Greenhouses to turn grape pomace into electrical energy rather than send it to a landfill. The methane gas produced by the decomposition of the residue, grape skins and seeds, is captured and used to generate electricity and heat for both Vandermeer operations and nearby residential customers.

In the U.K., a new bottling and warehouse facility currently under construction aims to reduce the number of shipping containers of imported pre-packaged wine from Australia, South Africa, and the Americas. The facility, which is to be commissioned in 2009, will bottle bulk wine on-site, thereby reducing the transportation carbon footprint and will further reduce the surplus of green glass used in packaging for wine shipped to the U.K.

In Australia, where water is at a premium in many regions, Constellation’s Banrock Station has been built on sound environmental principles since its founding in 1994. The Banrock Station Wine & Wetland Complex covers a 4,200 acre area on the Murray River in South Australia, and the wetland restoration program earned a listing by wetland organization, Ramsar, as one of the 1,200 Wetlands of International Importance. Over 25% of the vineyards there have been converted to subsurface irrigation which is expected to result in water savings of nearly 30% in this drought-affected area.

(Photo courtesy of PRNewsFoto/Constellation Brands, Inc.)

IBM recently released its third annual “Next Five in Five” list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live, and play over the next five years. The company’s choice of innovations that make the list is based on market and societal trends, as well as emerging technologies from IBM’s Labs around the world.

One of the innovations to make the November 2008 list was “energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows”. As IBM states:

Ever wonder how much energy could be created by having solar technology embedded in our sidewalks, driveways, siding, paint, rooftops, and windows? In the next five years, solar energy will be an affordable option for you and your neighbors. Until now, the materials and the process of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly for widespread adoption. But now this is changing with the creation of “thin-film” solar cells, a new type of cost-efficient solar cell that can be 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells and produced at a lower cost. These new thin-film solar cells can be “printed” and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for not only the tops, but also the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell phones, notebook computers, cars, and even clothing.

In January 2008, TFM’s “Facility Technologist”, Tom Condon, penned a column that discussed this thin-film solar cell technology. In that article, he wrote:

One invention has the potential to transform various components of a facility itself into power producing elements. Dr. Alan Heeger at the University of California Santa Barbara has made a discovery that has the potential to revolutionize power generating solar panels.

Traditional solar cells use a photovoltaic technology that has not changed significantly in the last 50 years. Photovoltaic solar panels are relatively expensive and heavy, and they need to be pointed directly at the sun in order to be effective.

Heeger’s invention has introduced a new way to generate power from sunlight: solar ink printed on thin film. This breed of photovoltaic material produces electricity when exposed to sunlight. The thin film, which is only a few thousandths of an inch thick, generates electricity far more efficiently than a traditional cell that weighs hundreds of times more.

Heeger formed Konarka Technologies in Lowell, MA, which is manufacturing printed ribbons using solar ink called Power Plastic®. These flexible ribbons are incredibly easy to work with and can be used in a wide variety of applications.

Konarka's Power Plastic

Konarka’s technology also solves one of the main impediments to the use of solar power—cost. The company has already reduced the cost of manufacturing a solar cell from around $2.40 per watt for traditional solar cells to less than $1 per watt for its Power Plastic cells. The company asserts that through mass production the cost will be reduced to around 10¢ per watt. With traditional cells providing an eight to 10 year payback, a 10¢ per watt cost can make return on investment (ROI) payback a big incentive.

Another exciting part of this new technology is its flexibility. Because this Power Plastic is in the form of ink, there are limitless applications. For example, because the ink is translucent, it could be applied to windows like a tint film. This would mean that the glass exterior of a skyscraper could become a huge solar cell, generating electricity while blocking the sun’s glare. Or, solar ink could be applied like a paint to exterior wall surfaces. Roofing materials could also have solar ink printed onto them. The ink could turn the whole building into a giant electrical generator.

The impact of this technology can extend beyond facilities. Because solar ink is so lightweight and flexible, it could be used to make mobile phones with built-in solar cells to recharge the phone, or the ink could be used to create clothing that generates power.

It will be interesting to see how thin-film solar cell technology is adopted by facilities over the next few years.

The other four innovations on IBM’s list this year had to do with “a crystal ball for your health,” two way communications with the Web, digital shopping assistants, and the eradication of “forgetting.” Read more on IBM’s site…

(Photo courtesy of Konarka Technologies)

U.S. Energy Group, helping facility managers reduce fuel consumption and monitor their buildings, announces USE Solar, a new initiative in solar energy. The USE Solar project focuses on the potential for large multi-family residential and commercial buildings to make use of solar power to decrease their electricity usage, and reaffirms U.S. Energy Group’s commitment to decreasing energy use, energy costs, and the environmental impact of New York’s buildings. 

U.S. Energy Group has selected “The Renee” building, a six story 120 unit co-op, located at 78-40 164th Street in Fresh Meadows, NY as the “beta test site” for its new solar initiative—tied to its USE manager Internet-based monitoring system. The Renee, also houses the company’s headquarters and is the beta site for its Energy Management Systems (EMS). Because the roof of The Renee has very little shading, it is uniquely suited for a solar project. This is an important initiative, because very few co-ops in New York City use solar energy. 

“I am thrilled to bring solar energy to the Renee,” stated Jerry Pindus, founder and CEO of U.S. Energy Group. “We are developing energy sources and technologies and processes that will help control and monitor electricity usage and achieve immediate savings, while capturing available government energy credits and tax benefits. U.S. Energy Group is on a continuing quest to help buildings operate more efficiently, and this project reaffirms our commitment to alternative energy.  We anticipate The Renee will become a showcase for installing affordable and commercially viable solar energy.” 

Solar power refers to the conversion of radiant energy from the sun into electricity. In this case, the solar panels being installed on the roof of the Renee will convert sunlight into DC electricity where it will be routed into the utility room, converted to AC (usable) electricity, and tied into the common area electric panel for direct use in the building. This will reduce the Renee’s overall electricity and hedge against future price increases while mitigating the building’s environmental impact. 

Quixotic Systems, Inc. and Tristate Solar, Inc. are working with U.S. Energy Group on the Renee and will install a 24.85 kW photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof. The system will consist of 142 solar modules of 200 watt’s each, at a size of 5’ x 3’. The modules are made from a monocrystalline silicone technology, which has been cut, laminated, framed in aluminum and glazed. Quixotic is designing the system; and Tristate is working as a project integrator and figuring out the mounting and wiring.  

“Quixotic is very excited to be a part of this new solar project and to be working with Tristate and U.S. Energy Group,” stated Richard Klein, Quixotic Systems. “Solar energy is a very attractive option for coops, and we are pleased to be leading the way. 

“Tristate Solar Inc. is thrilled to be installing the clean solar power generating system at The Renee building and looks forward to working with U.S. Energy Group on future solar projects in New York City,” said Doug Roether, president of Tristate Solar. “We believe this project is only the first of many in what is sure to be a successful alliance between energy efficiency and clean power generation.” 

With average weather projections, the solar system will provide 17% to 20% of the Renee’s common use space electricity. Additionally, the system is projected to prevent the production of approximately 27,139 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, is supportive of alternative energy initiatives and has offered a $100,000 rebate incentive for this project. Additionally, the project might be eligible for federal and state tax credits, as well as a property abatement tax of 8.75% for four years. It is projected to ROI within three years. 

The residents of The Renee are benefiting directing from this project. First, they will have the pride associated with living in an energy efficient building, and directly working to meet New York’s sustainability initiatives. Second, new commercial net metering rules will allow the coop to sell back the unused electricity to the grid, and the tax credits will be passed along to the tenants individually. Third, the property they own, as coop residents, will increase in value, as solar energy provides a locked in, non-inflatable price of electricity with immediate benefits. For every dollar saved in making a home or building energy efficient, the value increases significantly. Therefore, their coop apartments in The Renee are actually worth more. 

“The success of any conservation initiative is in the numbers,” stated Pindus. “The innovative processes we are developing to measure USE Solar will provide the proof of its success.”

The RPI research team's nanoengineered coating (credit: Rensselaer/Shawn Lin)

Earlier this week, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) announced that researchers there have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. The team has developed an antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle. 

“To get maximum efficiency when converting solar power into electricity, you want a solar panel that can absorb nearly every single photon of light, regardless of the sun’s position in the sky,” said Shawn-Yu Lin, professor of physics at Rensselaer and a member of the university’s Future Chips Constellation, who led the research project. “Our new antireflective coating makes this possible.”

An untreated silicon solar cell only absorbs 67.4% of sunlight shone upon it–meaning that nearly one-third of that sunlight is reflected away and thus unharvestable. From an economic and efficiency perspective, this unharvested light is wasted potential and a major barrier hampering the proliferation and widespread adoption of solar power. 

After a silicon surface was treated with Lin’s new nanoengineered reflective coating, however, the material absorbed 96.21% of sunlight shone upon it–meaning that only 3.79% of the sunlight was reflected and unharvested. This huge gain in absorption was consistent across the entire spectrum of sunlight, from UV to visible light and infrared, and moves solar power a significant step forward toward economic viability. 

Lin’s new coating is also said to successfully tackle the tricky challenge of angles. 

Most surfaces and coatings are designed to absorb light (i.e., be antireflective) and transmit light (i.e., allow the light to pass through it) from a specific range of angles. Eyeglass lenses, for example, will absorb and transmit quite a bit of light from a light source directly in front of them, but those same lenses would absorb and transmit considerably less light if the light source were off to the side or on the wearer’s periphery.

This same is true of conventional solar panels, states the RPI team, which is why some industrial solar arrays are mechanized to slowly move throughout the day so their panels are perfectly aligned with the sun’s position in the sky. Without this automated movement, the panels would not be optimally positioned and would therefore absorb less sunlight. The tradeoff for this increased efficiency, however, is the energy needed to power the automation system, the cost of upkeeping this system, and the possibility of errors or misalignment.

Lin’s discovery could antiquate these automated solar arrays, as his antireflective coating absorbs sunlight evenly and equally from all angles. This means that a stationary solar panel treated with the coating would absorb 96.21% of the sunlight no matter the position of the sun in the sky. So along with significantly better absorption of sunlight, Lin’s discovery could also enable a new generation of stationary, more cost-efficient solar arrays.

“At the beginning of the project, we asked ‘would it be possible to create a single antireflective structure that can work from all angles?’ Then we attacked the problem from a fundamental perspective, tested and fine-tuned our theory, and created a working device,” Lin said. Rensselaer physics graduate student Mei-Ling Kuo played a key role in the investigations.

Typical antireflective coatings are engineered to transmit light of one particular wavelength. Lin’s new coating stacks seven of these layers, one on top of the other, in such a way that each layer enhances the antireflective properties of the layer below it. These additional layers also help to “bend” the flow of sunlight to an angle that augments the coating’s antireflective properties. This means that each layer not only transmits sunlight, it also helps to capture any light that may have otherwise been reflected off of the layers below it. 

The seven layers, each with a height of 50 nanometers to 100 nanometers, are made up of silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide nanorods positioned at an oblique angle–each layer looks and functions similar to a dense forest where sunlight is “captured” between the trees. The nanorods were attached to a silicon substrate via chemical vapor disposition, and Lin said the new coating can be affixed to nearly any photovoltaic materials for use in solar cells, including III-V multi-junction and cadmium telluride.

Along with Lin and Kuo, co-authors of the research paper include E. Fred Schubert, Wellfleet Senior Constellation Professor of Future Chips at Rensselaer; Research Assistant Professor Jong Kyu Kim; physics graduate student David Poxson; and electrical engineering graduate student Frank Mont.

Funding for the project was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences, as well as the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

Cleveland, Ohio-based Garland Industries, Inc. has launched a new subsidiary, Garland Energy Systems, Inc., which is dedicated to making large scale alternative energy solutions for commercial, industrial, and institutional customers easier to purchase, install, and maintain. With a management team based in California and Cleveland, and sales representation across the U.S., Garland Energy is attempting to help its customers achieve improved energy independence by delivering specific energy performance outcomes. The company facilitates every aspect of solar system implementation, from preliminary analysis and technology selection, through financing, system integration, and on going maintenance.

Sean Mulligan, California-based Garland Energy president explains, “Garland’s initial entry into the solar energy market was a direct response to customer concerns about rising energy costs. This new subsidiary demonstrates Garland’s commitment to providing seamless solutions to a new generation of customers who are looking for environmentally responsible, petroleum independent building alternatives. Although solar solutions currently dominate the alternative energy landscape, our field of vision remains as broad as the market itself, encompassing wind power and a full range of alternative energy generating technologies.”

According to David Sokol, president of Garland Industries, “Garland Energy is a direct and inevitable evolution of Garland’s on going commitment to sustainable technologies. Garland has been helping organizations adapt to the ever changing social and economic challenges of facility infrastructure management since our founding in 1895. As one of our industry’s earliest adopters of sustainable initiatives, we have successfully integrated the capabilities needed to help our customers realize their visions for a fully sustainable future.”

Garland Energy provides its commercial customers with analysis of energy requirements, an evaluation of competing technologies, financing options, implementation of energy generating solutions, and system monitoring and servicing after the sale. Brian Lambert, the company’s Cleveland-based general manager, explains, “We are currently offering full service, turnkey integration of a full range of photovoltaic alternatives, without prejudice toward a single manufacturer. As new photovoltaic technologies emerge, and other alternative energy sources become commercially viable, we will objectively and independently match each customer’s output, timeline, and budgetary requirements to the most appropriate solutions available. Our goal is to enable our customers to stabilize their energy costs with predictable energy rates for 20 years or longer.”

Through its collaborations with other Garland Industries subsidiaries, Garland Energy is able to provide infrastructural support for the complete building envelope, including thorough roof inspection and analysis, comprehensive engineering services, and design build delivery. Garland has been developing partnerships with companies specializing in alternative energy solutions since 2003, and had already integrated several large scale rooftop solar systems into its customers’ sustainable building designs, prior to launching its newest subsidiary. 

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the nation’s schools spend an average of $175 per student on energy costs—a figure that continues to rise every year. Overall, utility bills are the second largest expense behind personnel costs.

At the same time, there is a growing awareness across the country about environmental impact and the effects of global warming. And many schools are looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions and serve as models of energy conservation.

Honeywell is helping school districts in California address both concerns through a new solar program. The company recently announced that Dixon Unified School District and Riverdale Joint Unified School District in central California have awarded Honeywell solar projects expected to drive more than $1 million in energy savings for each district over the next 20 years. Under the agreements, Honeywell will install solar panels at several facilities and sell the electricity the panels produce to the districts. The projects require no upfront investment from the districts, which are able to buy renewable energy at a price below their current utility rates.

In Dixon, Honeywell will install a SunSeeker™ ground mounted photovoltaic solar array from Thompson Technology Industries at the district’s new high school. The array will use single axis tracking technology to automatically orient the panels to the sun’s position in the sky, improving the electrical output of the system. The system is expected to generate more than 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually— enough energy to power 120 homes per year and supply more than 80% of the electricity for the school.

“The combination of financial and environmental benefits made the solar project with Honeywell a sound decision,” said Dixon Unified School District superintendent Roger Halberg. “The new high school will serve the district for a long time. And the solar installation will help ensure it is as carbon neutral as possible.”

Honeywell will install similar technology at Riverdale High School and Fipps Primary School in Riverdale. These arrays are expected to generate nearly 1.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which will cover more than 60% of the district’s total electricity load.

“The fact that going green also provided a financial advantage was very attractive to us,” said Elaine Cash, superintendent of Riverdale Joint Unified School District. “This solar project with Honeywell will maximize our budget resources while maintaining clean, sustainable schools.”

Honeywell also has implemented solar projects for Pleasanton Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area and Poway Unified School District in San Diego. It estimates that if only 20% of California districts installed similar solar technology, the state could reduce conventional electricity consumption in schools by six to nine percent.

Collectively, the company’s solar work for schools in California is expected to cut annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4.3 million pounds and nitrous oxide emissions by nearly 4,000 pounds. According to figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this is equivalent to removing more than 460 cars from the road or planting 575 acres of trees.

In addition to reducing costs and emissions, the solar arrays at all four districts are expected to serve as an educational tool that faculty can use to teach students about energy conservation and alternative energy sources. Through Web based portals, teachers and students will be able to see the real time electrical output from the solar technology and learn how the systems operate.

“Honeywell is helping these school districts identify the most appropriate renewable energy technology to meet their unique requirements, and doing it in a way that is line with their budgets,” said Kent Anson, vice president of global energy for Honeywell Building Solutions. “In addition to helping the schools with rising energy costs, the solar arrays also will provide students a solid educational tool for years to come.”

Honeywell will work with SPG Solar, Inc. to install the panels and expects to begin providing electricity to the Dixon and Riverdale districts by year’s end. The work will partially be funded by solar rebates offered through the California Solar Initiative, a program aimed at moving the state toward a cleaner energy future through implementation of solar systems.