Santa Monica’s eco-friendly and ever popular Big Blue Bus system is giving patrons another reason to ditch their cars in favor of low-impact technologies: solar power.

The Southern California transit system, arguably one of the greenest in the world, is premised on mitigating smog and other environmental impacts. Toward this end, the system last September installed 538 solar panels atop its new 66,000 square foot maintenance facility. The $60 million building was designed by HOK, an internationally recognized leader in sustainable design.

The custom-designed Martifer Solar photovoltaic panels have produced more than 32,000 kilowatt-hours (kWhs) of clean energy since installation and have offset the facility’s carbon emissions by nearly 50,000 pounds. The transportation company that has become a fixture and symbol of sustainability in Southern California can’t wait for the summer months. Martifer Solar Development Manager Wade Webb shares the company’s anticipation.

Webb predicts that the 95 kW (DC) system currently averaging 240 kWh per day will be able to produce as much as 440 kWh per day in the summer when sunny SoCal bestows consecutive warm days on its lucky citizens. That means in a single summer day, these solar panels will produce enough energy to offset nearly half the monthly electric use of an average American home. The end goal is for the panels to reduce the facility’s maintenance cost by 15 percent each year.

The Big Blue Bus system transports over 80,000 passengers a day across roughly 52 square miles between Santa Monica and Los Angeles. The transit system has been running since 1928 and currently operates over 200 energy-effiicient vehicles. Their new eco-facility takes the place of a 40-year old facility that was not meeting the company’s energy-efficiency standards.