The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), in conjunction with the solar development company Solar Power Inc. and Aerojet, an aerospace and defense firm, yesterday announced the completion of a 2.4-megawatt (MW) solar energy system at Aerojet’s facility in Sacramento, California. The installation is an expansion of the current 3.6-MW system that was installed at the facility in June 2009. With the solar installation now at six MWs, California’s capital is home to the biggest single-site industrial solar electric generating facility in the state.

The ground-mounted system utilizes 29,000 of Solar Power Inc.’s SPI 205-watt solar modules, which are joined with 22 tracking devices that follow the sun’s course to boost system efficiency.

Back in November 2009, when plans for the 2.4-MW expansion were finalized, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offered his support, noting the project’s positive impact on jobs, the state economy and the environment:

The addition of this large-scale project is further evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay. And this project is great news for California because it will help us meet our ambitious renewable energy and environmental goals, lead to more homes and businesses powered by sunshine and create new jobs in the clean-tech industry.

This SMUD solar expansion will go a long way in supporting California’s renewable energy and solar energy goals. During its first year, the installation will offset just over 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide, nearly 24 tons of sulfur dioxide and roughly nine tons of nitrogen oxide. According the press release, that is equivalent to taking 1,075 combustion engines from California’s roads or planting exactly 1,396,423 trees.

As of today, SMUD is the only major utility in California that is on pace to meet the state’s 2020 renewable energy goal of 33 percent.

SMUD Solar Installation Grows in Sacramento

SolarShares, which services up to 1,000 customers, is essentially composed of a 1 MW solar farm from which SMUD customers can buy “shares”— parcels that grant them ownership of a small fraction of the solar array. The electricity generated by each customer’s “shares” appears as a credit on his or her energy bill, a savings expected to average between $4-$50 a month, given the variability in sunshine production throughout the year. (Naturally, summer is the most productive time for solar panels.) For a monthly fee—starting at $10.75 a month for a 0.5 kW system—SolarShares program participants can opt into solar power production without the high upfront costs traditionally associated with a full-size residential solar panel installation. In its current phase, the SolarShares program is sold out, although plans are in progress to expand capacity. You can find out more on the SolarShares website here. (And California isn’t the only state with a community solar farm setup! Similar programs can be found in Colorado, St. George, Utah, and Falmouth, Massachusetts.)

By adding on roughly 9 percent to customers’ energy bills, however, the SolarShares program is still far from perfect. After all, it’s primarily a way for those with an interest in solar—but who are ineligible for a rooftop array, for one reason or another—to opt into a system with great environmental impact. Nevertheless, in spite of its occasionally forbidding upfront costs, owning a solar array is still the best option for those seeking to take advantage of the cost-effectiveness of solar power. For many renters, SolarShares may currently be the best choice for going solar, but keeping your options open in the future—especially if you do eventually find yourself a proud homeowner—wouldn’t go amiss.

Sacramento Offers Solar Shares for Renters

The funds continue to trickle down, however. The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) today announced that it has been awarded $4 million in federal grant funding to expand the city’s use of solar energy. A $3.5 million grant was also awarded to the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. That grant is to be used for job-training in the solar energy sector.

As reported by the Sacramento Business Journal:

SMUD will use the funding to continue its pilot program researching solar energy use in homes. SMUD aims to determine how well energy storage systems can support the utility’s peak hours, between 4 and 7 p.m., when the output from photovoltaic systems tends to drop off.

The $3.5 million grant for the California Community Colleges Board of Governors will go toward the administration of a California Solar Training Partnership. The partnership includes local community colleges, the California Energy Commission, the Labor Management Cooperative Committee and the California Center for Sustainable Energy.

Sacramento Lands Federal Solar Energy Grant