Solar Panels Going Up at Elmwood Jail

The Elmwood jail is going solar. That's right. Contractors can be seen installing solar panels in the parking lot and rooftops, in addition to a hot water tank.

The one megawatt project is expected to be completed in November, said Siva Darbhamulla, chief of design services for Santa Clara County.

Once the project is completed, the county estimates it will offset slightly more than 13 percent of the power used at the jail. 

The hot water tank, also powered by solar panels, will heat water for activities such as dishwashing and showers. Currently there are 3,000 inmates, male and female, housed at the .

This site is one of four county facilities that are going solar, said Darbhamulla. The others are also in the design or construction phase. There is only one other county facility which has solar panels–at the Valley Medical Center in San Jose near Bascom Avenue–and that only in the last two years.

Milpitas already has some examples of commercial buildings going solar–the has a in which the district pays in monthly installments to the bank that owns the solar panel system.

Santa Clara County is an owner and operator of their solar panel system through stimulus dollars. The money, administered by the state through Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, helped fund the project. Specifically, it would pay for 70 percent of the interest cost of the financing.

Darbhamulla said maintaining the system would be simpler than something like a boiler or a system with moving parts.

Ultimately, the four projects were awarded bonds of $24 million to build, but is expected to have a combined savings of $16.3 million to the county over 25 years. The system could last longer than its estimated lifetime, said Darbhamulla.

The total power generated from the four county sites is less than four megawatts. One megawatt is estimated to generate enough power for about 125 homes.