SOLAR SCHOOLS FOR SOUTHLAND STUDENTS

Santa Monica-Malibu Schools Embrace Solar to Save Money, Reduce Co2 Emissions

Global Green USA Applauds Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Plan to Deploy a Megawatt of Solar Panels on Local Schools

(Santa Monica, CA) – September 2, 2010 – Global Green USA and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District celebrated last night’s board passage of the School District’s decision to adopt a plan for installing solar panels on nine elementary schools that will generate nearly two-thirds of all the power needs for the schools, save the district $2.8 million - $5.1 million dollars and reduce 24,000 tons of CO2 emissions over the next twenty five years. 

The innovative power purchase agreement with RF Santa Monica Development Corp. and Permacity Solar means that the school district won’t have to pay for the panels or their installation and will begin saving money on utility expenses in the very first year.  Additionally, hundreds of elementary schools children will have the opportunity to learn about their new solar panels and the clean green energy they will create from a website that will show how much electricity is being generated in real time.

“By approving this deal, the SMMUSD board is demonstrating both environmental and fiscal responsibility,” said Ted Bardacke, Green Urbanism Program Associate at Global Green and a member of the district’s Measure BB Committee. “In these challenging economic times for public schools, these types of deals help keep resources in the classroom and provide environmental opportunities for students, while delivering a cleaner environment for our entire community.”

Thanks to an initial grant from Solar Santa Monica, Global Green and the District were able to create an RFP soliciting no-cost bids from investors in Power Purchase Agreements who would pay for the solar panels and their installation in return for rebates and tax credits.  After rejecting the initial proposals, Solar Santa Monica and the district provided a competitive counter proposal to Permacity Solar that was accepted.
 
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school district will be installing 100,000 square feet of solar panels on their elementary schools including. Franklin, Will Rogers, Roosevelt, Grant, Muir, McKinley, Cabrillo, Webster, and Pt. Dume.