Solar panels go up at Valley Health Center

How’s this for a bright idea? Workers are in the midst of installing more than 3,000 solar panels at a Gilroy health clinic, in a move expected to save the facility more than $600,000 in energy costs over the next two decades, county officials said.
The installation – in the Valley Health Center parking lot located at 7475 Camino Arroyo – is part of a Santa Clara County solar initiative that began in June and has created 92 temporary jobs. Seventeen of those jobs are at the Gilroy site, said Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who beamed over the new “solar trees” that also act as covered parking spaces.
“I’ve always said the economic benefits of solar nearly outshine the environmental benefits,” Wasserman said.
The sparkling panels, products of Chinese-based Yingli Solar, will be fully installed by February, said Siva Darbhamulla, chief of design services for Santa Clara County’s facilities and fleet department.
Darbhamulla said work on the 3,108 panels began in August, and will be the equivalent of 120 acres of freshly planted trees.
In all, 15,000 panels will be installed in nine parking lots countywide.