SRJC selects SunPower to deliver combined Solar and Storage Project

Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) recently selected SunPower to deploy a fully-integrated solar and storage project. The 100-acre campus in Santa Rosa will feature the SunPower® Helix™ Carport system and SunPower’s Garage Top Carport system totaling about 2.6 megawatts, coupled with a 1.3-megawatt (2 megawatt-hour) energy storage system from Stem, Inc. The 40-acre Petaluma campus will also install a 1.3 megawatt Helix Carport system.

Designed with customers like schools in mind, the Helix Carport system features SunPower’s high-efficiency solar panels that maximize energy production, a simplified electrical and cable management system to secure and conceal wires, as well as monitoring software that communicates real-time insights for better energy management. By adding Stem’s software-driven energy storage, Santa Rosa Junior College is expected to see significant demand charge savings.

“As a large community college that believes strongly in sustainability, SRJC wants to maximize the value of our solar energy system with energy storage,” said Dr. Frank Chong, Superintendent and President at SRJC. “This will cut our energy costs even further to improve our economics, benefit our students, and use taxpayer dollars as wisely as possible.”

The college will own the new solar and energy storage systems, which were financed by Measure H bond funds. When complete in 2018, the project will add to a 77-kilowatt SunPower system that has been operating on top of Frank P. Doyle Library since 2007. The SunPower systems combined are expected to deliver significant energy cost savings during their decades of useful life.

SunPower will be responsible for design, engineering and procurement of materials for the solar and storage project, and will operate and maintain the solar system. The storage system will be operated using Stem’s software.

“With SunPower headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s rewarding to see local colleges install solar to save on energy costs, while demonstrating the importance of sustainability to students in our communities,” said Nam Nguyen, SunPower executive vice president. “We look forward to helping Santa Rosa Junior College maximize the value of its solar and storage investment with SunPower’s comprehensive, cost-effective energy solutions.”

SunPower has long been a trusted solar partner for community colleges and schools in California given the company’s extensive experience delivering innovative energy solutions to education customers.