Solar Energy

Generating our own renewable energy helps us meet our County's goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We have financed installations of solar panels at two community housing projects. At our own buildings, 11 large-scale solar installations:

Save taxpayers about $700,000 a year in electricity costs
Provide enough daytime electricity to power more than 3,000 homes
Will prevent over 38,600 tons of carbon emissions over 30 years, equivalent to not driving over 96 million miles

We are proud that our facilities generate the most solar energy of any local government in the United States. When the County's solar program started in the early 1990s, we were a pioneer. Today, more than a decade and 11 solar projects later, Alameda County has installed 3.5 megawatts of solar panels at its facilities. If you're wondering how many solar panels that is, it required us to install a total of more than 19,000 panels.