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Some of Menlo Park’s city buildings will soon be solar powered, after the Menlo Park City Council approved the installation of solar panels on four city-owned buildings at its May 21 meeting. The panels will be installed on the Belle Haven Child Development Center, Burgess Pool, City Hall and the Menlo Park Library. The new panels will be provided by Peninsula Clean Energy, a nonprofit provider of solar panels and solar storage, through their GovPV program.
Through the GovPV Program, PCE designs, installs, operates and maintains the solar panel arrays at no upfront cost to the city. Menlo Park will then pay for the energy produced by the panels via monthly electricity bills. The electricity is purchased at a fixed rate, which avoids future rate hikes.
City staff estimate that purchasing electricity through this power purchase agreement with PCE will result in big savings.
“It’s expected that this portfolio of solar will save the city $2.9 million in utilities over the lifetime of the agreements due to the fixed electricity costs, and the city’s foresight and signing up for net energy metering, which allows us to be grandfathered into a more favorable rate” said Menlo Park Sustainability Manager Rachael Londer.
The agreement with PCE has a 20-year term. At the end of the agreement, there are opportunities for Menlo Park to buy out the system, extend the agreement or have the panels removed. The city would also have the opportunity to purchase the systems before the end of the term if desired.
Council member Maria Doerr said she appreciated the work that city staff did to find funding for the project.
“It’s also really great to see all the different funding sources that have been pulled together by the city to help fund this project in partnership with PCE,” she said. “Love to see that leveraging of local dollars by going after state and federal money to make things happen.”
The roofs of Belle Haven Child Development Center, City Hall and Menlo Park Library will have to be replaced before solar panels can be installed. The council has already approved a budget to cover the costs of roof replacements.
The roof replacements will take place some time between now and 2025. The solar panels will likely be installed and energized in 2025.
