Largest Solar Panel in LA Debuts on Metro Bus Facility

Photo by Ed Fuentes/blogdowntown

Metro has done it again and this time broken a record for Los Angeles. Yesterday they unveiled the largest solar panel installation within the City of Los Angeles on top of their Support Services Center--basically a bus maintenance facility--in downtown.

The 6,720 individual solar panels will generate 1.2 megawatt, or 1,200 kilowatts, of power. The agency estimates it will save $550,000 on the annual $1.1 million energy bill. That means it will take about 18 and a half years to pay off the $16.5 million spent (however, they're getting a $6.3 million discount in the form of incentives from utilities).

In 2006, Metro completed a massive solar energy project encompassing 1,648 solar panels at its Metro Bus Divisions 8 and 15 in the San Fernando Valley, and two years later 1,632 solar panels were installed at its Carson bus division.