Vacaville's energy constellation expands

Vacaville's energy constellation expands
By Ian Thompson | Daily Republic | June 09, 2008

VACAVILLE - The city will become more solar-friendly as the nearly-completed State Compensation Insurance Fund campus gets ready to flip the switch on its new solar array.

'It is capable of providing 330,000 kilowatt hours of energy,' said Patrick Andersen, a spokesman for the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

The solar array is located on the 32-acre campus on New Horizons Way in northwest Vacaville. It consists of 15 'trees,' which each have 72 solar panels.

The campus is not far from ALZA Corp., which has a 5,800-panel solar array that was completed in November 2007. ALZA's array is capable of generating 1 megawatt, a third of the company's energy needs.

At that time, Vacaville officials boasted that the city had reached the 3 megawatt mark.

Earlier this year, the Mariani Packing Company partnered with MP2 Capitol to install its own solar array that can generate nearly 1 megawatt.

The first of five two-story State Compensation Insurance Fund buildings will be ready to open in mid-July, Andersen said. Once it does, 120 employees from the leased office in Fairfield will relocate to Vacaville.

Tentatively, the next two buildings will be finished and occupied by another 250 employees in late August or early September, Andersen said.

The entire campus, which will cover 434,375 square feet, is expected to be completed by 2011 and eventually house as many as 750 employees.

See the complete story at the Daily Republic Online.