A special grand opening of the 900-car parking lot was held today at the college. The new system was installed to fully-power security lights, elevators, four emergency phones on each level as well as fire protection systems. Excess power being generated by the SANYO panels will be used by adjacent buildings on campus.

"The reason we chose SANYO panels was because they produce more energy per square foot and Long Beach City College wanted to install as much solar as possible on this structure," said Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar Power who designed and installed the system. "We worked closely with McCarthy Building Company and know the system will meet the needs of the college."

Long Beach City College installed 2,100 SANYO HIT Power 215N panels that offer a cell efficiency of 19.3% and a module efficiency of 17.1%. The system is the second largest system in the City of Long Beach, and is the largest to date for California Solar Initiative systems in Long Beach.

The solar system is expected to produce approximately 59,000 kW hours a month, which should offset approximately 9% of adjacent buildings' overall electricity needs. The system is expected to also dramatically reduce the total annual electric bill while considering the environment, reducing CO2 emissions by almost 18.4 million pounds (approx. 9,200 tons) over the warranty period on the panels.

"We wanted to maximize the energy generated, and the SANYO panels came highly recommended. With the installed solar system, we have been able to turn an ordinary parking garage into an extraordinary solar power plant, accomplishing both a reduction of our carbon footprint and our electricity bill at one time," said Tim Wootton, Director of Facilities at Long Beach City College.

To raise awareness of the benefits of the system, the college has also installed a special information kiosk on the adjacent campus parkway to show energy levels being produced by the garage-top panels. Classes also benefit as the Electrical Technology department will be able to use the data as part of their coursework. The parking structure also features a parking space availability monitor, powered by the panels, that alerts students to open spaces on each level.

"The amount of CO2 being reduced by this project and the actions of Long Beach City College should be recognized," said Charles Hanasaki, President of the Solar and Smart Energy Division of SANYO North America Corp.

"SANYO panels not only reduce carbon footprint, but they take less footprint to install with the same or better power production as other traditional panels."

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