Californian airport takes the lead in solar utilization

With the number of home owners installing solar panels everyday and more communities now reaping its benefits, it’s no surprise that the solar business is booming. The newest adopters are Fresno-Yosemite International (FYI). The airport, which served 1.38 million passengers last year, is situated on 2,150 acres and mostly deals in private air traffic had a large amount of the land around that was sitting idle and undeveloped while the airport was struggling to deal with soaring energy costs. Meanwhile, the airport was launching a trial program to deploy solar panels on the roof of an expansion building which was to house rental car services. The idea clicked — solar power could fuel the airport’s power needs. Not stopping with the rooftops, FYI expanded its solar offerings, placing panels over the equivalent of seven football fields’ worth of undeveloped land. Now, with its construction complete for the time being, finishing last month, FYI has found itself in a new position — green leader. A 2 MW solar facility which was finally put to use last month it now powers the airport’s lighting and the communications tower. While modest compared to some dedicated solar plants, the FYI’s installation is a perfect example of a business putting solar to use.

It cost 16-million dollars and that it was not paid by the airport. They were paid by a third party financial firm. They will then sell the power to the airport at a fixed rate for the next 20 years. During the twenty years fossil fuel costs will likely continue to rise, but the cost of the solar power hopefully won’t. (fingers crossed here)

Via