Southern California Edison (SCE) and ProLogis have reached an agreement to place up to 40% of SCE's 250MW solar panel project on ProLogis distribution warehouse roofs in the Inland Empire region of Southern California.
The agreement will make available to the utility as much as 15 million-square-feet of roof space for the installation of more than a half-million advanced solar panels. Panel installation will begin this year on ProLogis roofs included in the agreement – four structures in the Ontario airport complex and a fifth in the Redlands distribution center, SCE said.
John Fielder, president of SCE, said: “Our first installation in this large solar power project was a ProLogis building in Fontana, California that now provides 2 million watts of clean energy to our grid. We are pleased to expand this relationship with a company that shares our vision for converting otherwise unused urban rooftop real estate into solar power stations.”
Drew Torbin, vice president of renewable energy for ProLogis, said: “Our partnership with SCE works well for both parties – we have flat, available roof space and local construction management expertise in place to support the growth of SCE’s renewable energy program. With approximately 45 million-square-feet in SCE’s service area, this installation is one part of a larger, multi-phase project.”
SCE’s solar stations are connected directly to the utility’s neighborhood grid sending the solar power to all customers. This aspect of the project is expected to lead to significant smart grid enhancements to SCE’s neighborhood distribution circuitry.