Merced County, CA, (pop. 266,353), is a culturally diverse region located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. The county spans from the coastal ranges to the foothills of Yosemite National Park and is known as one of the world’s most productive agricultural areas. Merced County was established in 1855 and is host to the city of Merced, the county seat, which boasts wide, tree-lined streets and homes that span a broad economic range.

Project Scope
To help reduce its capital budget costs, Merced County initially partnered with Siemens Industry, Inc., in 2001 on a county-wide lighting and major mechanical energy performance project. Through the improvements that were implemented, the county achieved 120% of its guaranteed energy savings. Following the success of this initial partnership, in 2007, the county again partnered with Siemens for a second energy performance project, which included a significant solar component.

Economic conditions postponed the solar project until 2010, when county officials decided to use funds that had been reserved for capital projects to build a solar array at their Sandy Mush correctional facility. Merced County selected Siemens as the primary contractor to implement the solar energy project.

Siemens designed and built a 1.4MW photovoltaic (PV) solar array in El Nido, CA, to provide electricity to Merced County’s Sandy Mush complex, which included the county adult correctional facility and a juvenile justice/corrections facility. Project implementation involved installing two triangular arrays deploying 6,272 solar panels on roughly 4.5 acres with a fixed ground mount structure. When online, the solar system provides electricity for the two Sandy Mush campus correctional facilities. The adult facility relies on solar energy to generate between 60 and 70% of its electrical energy needs, while the juvenile facility uses solar energy for 80% of its annual needs. County officials “hit the switch” and the system began delivering power to the facility in December 2011.

A sample of Merced County’s rich agriculture.

Results
Siemens estimated that the solar array system helped save Merced County approximately $312,000 in energy expenses in the first year, with total estimated savings of $14 million over the next 25 years.

Through this solar energy project, Merced County will become eligible for up to $1.5 million in utility rebates. Siemens has helped the county to prepare its application to receive these funds and will validate energy production through an ongoing service contract. The generated savings and rebates will be diverted to a separate county fund, which is dedicated to future energy-saving and/or capital projects.

In addition to the solar energy work, Merced County is partnering with Siemens to implement other HVAC, lighting, and water conservation retrofits and improvements that will help generate additional energy savings in the future.