Even in the earliest planning stages for UC Merced, officials knew they had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set a new standard among college campuses for the sustainable use of energy and other scarce resources. UC Merced’s “Triple Zero Commitment” pledges to reduce energy use as much as possible, power the campus with renewable energy and offset greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Campus officials envisioned solar as a key piece of the University’s net zero energy strategy. In support of UC Merced’s goals, the university worked with TotalEnergies to install 5 MW of solar carport and rooftop systems, complemented by a 483 kW/900 kWh energy storage system.
The solar systems are expected to remove 22.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the air within 30 years, equivalent to taking more than 3,600 cars off California roadways. In addition to energy cost savings from solar production, energy storage positions UC Merced to achieve significant demand charge savings over the first 10 years of the project.
The system is UC Merced’s second to feature TotalEnergies solar technology. A 1.1 MW ground-mounted tracker system has been in operation and exceeding performance expectations since 2009, and the two systems combined are expected to supply more than 50 percent of the campus’s energy needs.
