SANTA BARBARA – The county unveiled 4,500 solar panels on Friday that are the latest addition to Santa Barbara County's sustainability action plan.
The project took three years of planning and six months of construction, but the new solar panels located just above the county jail, are up and running.
"What I see in this project is the county actually taking the step to actually show the community that we stand behind what we advocate for," said Supervisor Janet Wolf.
The power generated will help offset the energy costs of the Calle Real Campus which includes the jail, dispatch center, Public Health and the Veterans Hospital.
"There're numerous other buildings and it will do approximately one-third of all the power to those facilities will be coming off of solar now," said Project Manager Roy Hapeman.
The solar panels will generate more than 1.7 kilowatts of electricity a year, which is enough to power more than 100 Santa Barbara homes.
"All of the departments will get cost savings from that because we aren't paying the utility bill, we're actually getting our energy from sunshine," said Hapeman.
When the panels were being installed, some of the jail inmates helped out. When one was released from jail, he got a job to finish the installation.
Teens at the Los Prietos Boys Camp will also be given vocational training when they are brought up to help replant some vegetation near the panels.
"This is just a win, win, win," said Supervisor Wolf. "We've done a lot and I think we have a lot to be proud of."
The county will receive a rebate of nearly $1.7 million from Southern California Edison that will be paid over the next five years.
