UC Irvine to generate solar energy

A 20-year agreement with Chicago-based UPC Solar will generate enough power on the UC Irvine campus to supply the equivalent of 200 average Irvine homes. The initiative is the largest of its kind in the University of California system and in Orange County and among the largest in California.

UPC Solar will design, install, own and maintain 6,500 solar panels to be placed on 11 campus buildings, resulting in a total system size of 1.2 megawatts. UC Irvine then will purchase clean, green power from UPC. There is no net change in electricity costs to UCI, but the solar power system will deliver an annual reduction of approximately 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

Kiosks located strategically around the campus will monitor the system and provide ready information to passersby about how much energy is being generated and the size of the carbon offset.

“We’ve been working on acquiring solar power at UC Irvine for more than two years,” said Wendell Brase, vice chancellor of Administrative & Business Services, who led the initiative. “This contract allows us to harness solar-powered electricity with no capital outlay by the campus. And UCI will be among the first to help the UC system reach its goal of providing 10 megawatts of local renewable power by 2014.”