Utility to install (250 MW) solar on (Southern California) warehouse roofs

Utility to install solar on warehouse roofs

By SANDY SHORE

A utility is taking advantage of some little-used Southern California real estate for its next solar power project -- warehouse roofs.

Southern California Edison is leasing space on roofs of about 50 warehouses in the Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles to generate 250 megawatts of electricity from solar power.

The utility said Tuesday it has signed a five-year contract with SunPower Corp. to provide high-efficiency solar panels capable of generating about 200 megawatts, or about 80 percent of the total expected for the project. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The warehouses, which primarily are massive freight distribution centers, solve some challenges for the utility because they are readily available in high-growth areas where land can be costly and they are within the grid, eliminating the need to build transmission lines.

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