U.S. Bank and SolarCity, are installing solar panels on top of U.S. Bank branches and on newly constructed canopies over parking areas at a select number of U.S. Bank locations in Los Angeles, San Diego, Inland Empire and Orange County. The companies will hold grand openings at some of the locations in the coming weeks.

SolarCity will sell renewable energy to U.S. Bank through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The new solar carports and rooftop systems, which collectively approach one Mega-Watt (MW) in generation capacity, will generate solar electricity for the branches while providing shaded parking for customers.

In addition to generating energy savings, the solar systems are expected to reduce U.S. Bank's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 35 million pounds, which is equivalent to taking 3,068 cars off the road or planting more than 19,000 trees, based on computations using data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"We are always evaluating new ways to align our business practices and customer offerings with our sustainability goals," said Sean Foley, president of U.S. Bank in Southern California. "U.S. Bank has long been a leader in renewable energy investing and we are looking forward to having our own solar generation on-site while creating a comfortable banking environment for our customers."

U.S. Bank and SolarCity will celebrate the installations with grand opening events in coming weeks. The U.S. Bank branch locations that will display new solar installations include:

+ 9467 Milliken Ave. in Rancho Cucamonga;

+ 393 W. Foothill Blvd. in Claremont;

+ 25972 Muirlands Blvd. in Mission Viejo;

+ 8444 Florence Ave. in Downey;

+ 10942 Pine St. in Los Alamitos;

+ 9918 Hibert St. in San Diego;

+ 5100 Federal Blvd. in San Diego and

+ 201 W. Bastanchury Rd. in Fullerton.

"SolarCity has benefitted greatly from the environmental leadership of companies such as U.S. Bank," said Jim Cahill, SolarCity's regional vice president of Southern California. "We are honored that U.S. Bank chose SolarCity as its clean energy provider." SolarCity sustains a staff of 468 employees working out of six operations centers in Southern California and is looking to fill more green jobs around the country.