California Center for Sustainable Energy

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Nov. 24, 2009)— The California Center for Sustainable Energy will present a $286,116 rebate check from the California Solar Initiative to the Associated Students of San Diego State University during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a photovoltaic system at the campus’s Aztec Aquaplex on Wednesday, Dec. 2.

The 124- kilowatt solar system will save the university more than $35,000 a year in utility costs, according to Grant Mack, Associated Students Green Commissioner and chairman of the Green Love Sustainability Advisory Board, the student government-led group responsible for developing the solar project.

Speakers scheduled for the ceremonies include San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, State Senator Christine Kehoe, City Council Members Marti Emerald and Kevin Faulconer, SDSU President Stephen Weber and Daniel Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Solar Power. SDSU Associated Students President Tyler Boden and Grant Mack will receive the rebate check from Andrew McAllister, director of programs at the California Center for Sustainable Energy, administrators of the California Solar Initiative in the San Diego region.

“This project is an excellent example of bringing higher education, local business, nonprofits and government agencies around the cause of clean, renewable energy,” McAllister said. “Each and every solar installation helps San Diego to reduce its carbon footprint and adds to the goal of building a self-sustaining solar market in California. San Diego is already a model for the rest of the nation, and this installation reinforces that leadership, emphatically.”

The project was paid for by a student-approved fee referendum in 2008 that secured funds for sustainable upgrades to Associated Students’ recreational facilities. The SDSU Green Love board has several sustainability projects under way on the campus, including lighting efficiency upgrades, recycling and installation of other solar photovoltaic and solar water heating systems.

“Activation of the Aquaplex solar array marks a huge step for Associated Students and San Diego State University toward a more sustainable future and really shows that the important things in life are never easy to accomplish, but are nonetheless achievable,” Mack told the SDSU Daily Aztec newspaper.

The Aquaplex’s solar system consists of three separate ground-mounted arrays, each with 280 photovoltaic panels. The arrays are mounted on a hillside next to the center and anchored by environmentally friendly “earth screws” that do not require excavation or concrete foundations. The system was designed and installed by Sullivan Solar Power of San Diego, who also recently installed a 40 kilowatt photovoltaic system at SDSU and UCSD’s Mission Bay Aquatic Center.

“With the abundance of sunshine we receive year-round in San Diego, the students at SDSU are to be commended for setting solar photovoltaics as a top priority in their sustainability initiatives,” said Daniel Sullivan, owner of Sullivan Solar Power. “This system at the Aquaplex generates enough solar power to reduce 299,940 pounds of CO₂ from the atmosphere each year and will generate roughly 241,887 kilowatt-hours per year.”

SDSU’s Aztec Aquaplex, completed in 2007, is an outdoor swimming facility with a 50-meter pool, a recreational pool, hydrotherapy spa and other recreational facilities. It is primarily for student and athletic department use, but is also open to the public for a modest fee. For information about Aquaplex hours and programs, call (619) 594-SWIM or visit www.arc.sdsu.edu.