Last week, the City and partners celebrated the completion of a new solar carport at the Southside Santa Fe Public Library Branch. It is one of seventeen solar arrays that are being installed at various City facilities. With the completion of this carport, just over one megawatt of solar has already been installed – and another megawatt is currently under construction.
The solar installations are taking place in conjunction with Facility Improvement Measures (FIMs) in the buildings, like new water-saving fixtures, that will reduce overall water and energy consumption. The projects are estimated to save more than $750,000 per year in utility costs in total, with approximately $500,000 per year of the savings resulting from solar. The project is also estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 6,742,000 pounds per year – the equivalent of taking 588 cars off the road.
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