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California utility agrees 100MW solar deal with logistics firm

ProLogis' Redlands Distribution Center will be one of the buildings to gain a solar rooftop this summer

Utility Southern California Edison has signed a deal with logistics company ProLogis to use the roofspace on its warehouses to host 100 megawatts of solar power systems.

The deal will see development of more than half a million solar panels across 15 million square feet of roofspace in the Inland Empire area of Southern California.

Alone, it will account for 40% of Southern California Edison’s 250MW rooftop solar program.

The deal follows on the back of a 2MW solar project the companies developed together on a ProLogis building in Fontana, California, which is now operational.

The next projects will include a system on the Redlands Distribution Center and an 11.1MW array at the Ontario Airport.

Under the agreement, the utility will own and operate the solar facilities, feeding electricity directly into the grid. ProLogis will receive rental income for use of the roofspace, as well as construction management fees.

Subject to permitting approvals and engineering studies, construction is expected to begin this summer.

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.”

“Our first installation in this large solar power project was a ProLogis building in Fontana, Calif. that now provides two million watts of clean energy to our grid,” said SCE President John Fielder.

“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.”

ProLogis

ProLogis, which has its HQ in Denver, Colorado, has been developing solar projects on its buildings for some time, completing a 2.5MW system at a warehouse in Oregon earlier this year (see this BrighterEnergy.org story).

The company now has solar projects installed or under construction on 32 buildings around the world, covering more than 10.6 million square feet and boasting a 24.6MW generating capacity.

ProLogis formed a renewable energy division in 2009 to manage the projects for the group, which owns more than 450 million square feet of roofspace worldwide.

Grid upgrades

Southern California Edison said the agreement with ProLogis will allow it to meet California’s Million Solar Roofs target at a “fraction” of the cost of typical PV installations.

But, the company said it will have to make changes to its local grid systems in order to connect up the multiple large-panel arrays.

Electricity distribution networks built with one-way voltage control systems will have to be upgraded to cope with the two-way flow of power once it is generated locally.

“SCE grid engineers are no strangers to creating a smarter, greener grid,” said James Kelly, SCE senior vice president, Transmission and Distribution.

Southern California Edison is part of Edison International, and serves a population of around 14 million in central, coastal and southern California.

“We have engineered a transmission system that delivers almost 13 billion kilowatt-hours of largely variable renewable generation to our customers each year, more than any U.S. utility, while maintaining a reliable power supply.”