Sierra Aluminum is using solar panels to help power Fontana buildings

Sierra Aluminum Co. has taken its first step toward going solar with the installation of 4,488 solar panels on the roof of one of its manufacturing buildings in Fontana.

The Rubidoux-based aluminum extrusion company, which makes aluminum parts for a variety of industries, is buying solar power from California Pacific Power Management LLC. which financed, owns and operates the 800-kilowatt rooftop system.

Shayne Seever, Sierra Aluminum's vice president of administration, said the solar system has worked well at the Fontana building since it was installed in mid-March.

He said within the next 18 months he plans to have solar systems placed on the roofs of two other manufacturing buildings that the company operates in Fontana. Then he will do the same at three buildings in Riverside County.

The goal, he said, is to enable the aluminum company, which is a heavy user of electricity and natural gas, to make strides toward meeting future California regulations on carbon gas emissions while also taking control of future energy costs.

Sarah Modgling, marketing manager for California Pacific Management, said Sierra Aluminum has agreed to pay a rate for the solar electricity that is 10 percent less than the price of power delivered by Southern California Edison Co. The price will remain the same during the 20-year energy purchase contract even if Edison's rates go up, she said.

Seever said the solar system was designed to generate enough electricity to meet 70 to 80 percent of the requirements of the building where it was installed when the facility is in full production. That would reap an initial savings on electricity of $30,000 to $50,000 a year.

However, because of the economic downturn, production has slowed. So Seever said currently the solar system is producing more electricity than the Fontana building needs and the excess is being fed into Southern California Edison's energy grid.

"We have no out of pocket expense until we actually use" the energy, Seever said.

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