As California deals with overcrowding in its state prison system by transferring low-level offenders to county correctional facilities, one municipality has found a way to cut costs without cutting services while also helping the state meet its renewable energy goals. Merced County has recently announced that it has commissioned a 1.4-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) array to power the county’s correctional facilities in El Nido, Calif.
The system, developed and installed by Siemens, will generate enough electricity to meet approximately 70 percent of the facilities’ peak electricity consumption, and offset its entire annual consumption.