Union Sanitary District Joins California Solar Energy Movement

Fremont, California’s Union Sanitary District – an independent district comprised of the California cities of Fremont, Newark, and Union City that offers wastewater treatment and disposal services for residents in those towns – is incorporating solar power into one of its pump stations.  The initiative to utilize solar panels in wastewater collection and processing is an effort to both save on energy costs and demonstrate the Union Sanitary District’s commitment to the environment.

Fremont (which is located near the San Francisco Bay, approximately 480 miles north of San Diego) is home to Irvington Pump Station, which is the USD’s first solar-powered station.  The site spans 21 acres and will feature over 1,600 solar panels when the project is fully completed.  The panels should generate around 1.2 million kilowatts of energy and will help make a dent in USD’s 2.1 million-dollar annual bill from Pacific Gas & Electric.  Additionally, the project helps USD qualify for government incentives from the State of California under the California Solar Initiative.  The agency should see a payout of around $600,000 over the next five years from an incentive program designed to help citizens and companies leverage the cost of installing solar panels and make the services of solar companies in San Diego more accessible.

The Union Sanitary District serves over 320,000 California residents as well as 2,400 commercial customers.  Their wastewater treatment plant collects and treats thirty million gallons of water a day, and having a solar field capable of generating enough electricity to power 80 homes per year will likely be an enormous help.  The project has also made the Irvington Pump Station more self-sufficient, as it no longer needs to rely so much on external energy services from PG&E.  As rolling blackouts during summer months are a frequent concern in California, helping large consumers of energy stay off the power grid is a great way to help reduce the likelihood that homes and businesses will end up without power.

For more information on San Diego solar, visit Solaire online.