Approved in 2009, the City of Costa Mesa is wrapping up it’s new 106kW solar system that it obtained through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Solar City, thanks to the leadership of the City’s Building Department Official, Khanh Nguyen. Photovoltaic solar modules were installed on both the City’s Neighborhood Community Center (NCC) and the Downtown Recreation Center. Prior to the non-penetrating roof mounted solar systems being installed, the NCC received a new cool roof which better reflects the suns solar radiation.
Since Costa Mesa entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with Solar City there are no upfront costs to the City. The solar system is actually still owned by Solar City and the power the system generates will be sold at a negotiated rate to the City over the next 15 years. It’s estimated that the total savings over the 15 year long agreement will be approximately $150,000 with $3,000 in savings the first year. Solar installation companies typically use conservative numbers when making these estimates, but it’s likely that electricity rates will rise much higher than their estimated rates which will save their customers even more money.
