SoCal Gas and its parent, Sempra Energy are trying to wean businesses off gas and push them to use more solar power.
It's part of a broader move by the company to reposition itself as a renewable energy provider, SoCal Gas officials said. Sempra, which also owns San Diego Gas and Electric Co., expects to spend $10 million this year researching and developing "green" technologies.
Everyone knows solar power can heat homes and generate electricity.
But on a rooftop in Downey, Southern California Gas Co. engineers are using solar mirrors to cool down their offices.
Engineers are testing two technologies that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto pipes with water running through them. The heated water powers a thermal process in a chiller that cools the cold water used in air conditioning units.
The rooftop prototype systems, which include the mirrors, pipes and computer-automated solar trackers, cost about $200,000 each -- about the same cost as the entire traditional air conditioning system installed in the 45,000-square-foot Downey building, he said.
Using solar heat to power air conditioning
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