Kyocera Corp. (San Diego, CA) announced plans to install a solar-electric generating facility at its North American headquarters and Kearny Mesa plant in San Diego, CA, using 1,680 Kyocera KC-167G solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and 210 custom-manufactured, light-filtering, PV modules arrayed to form a carport in an employee parking lot.
The system's capacity of 251 kW - capable of generating 450,000 kWh per year - will be equivalent to the electrical needs of 68 typical California homes. According to Clean Power Research's PV calculator, generating this amount of electricity through conventional fossil fuel resources would annually release more than 500,000 lbs of carbon dioxide, 150 lbs of nitrous oxide, and 12 lbs of sulfur dioxide. The Kyocera carport PV system is planned to be completed in September 2004.
