The Hacienda Mobile Home Park of Barstow is on 6.5 acres of a 9-acre lot located in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. This family park was established in 1960. For almost 50 years, the park has provided homes for thousands of low-income individuals including single adults, families, and seniors. The present ownership believes in diversity, responsiveness by management, and embracing change.

At this time, there are over 100 residents in 47 spaces and the solar plant is consistently providing power for a third of this population.

Challenge

Electric bills for the 47-unit mobile home park were running in excess of $2000 per month. The tenants were responsible for paying their share of the electric bills through sub-metering, a common practice among mobile home parks.

Hacienda did their research and found solar energy to be a cost-effective, environmentally responsible way to reduce the park’s dependence on the supply and prices offered by the local utility company, Southern California Edison (SCE).

Hacienda did not find other mobile home parks that had converted to solar energy, in fact there were no permitted solar electric installations throughout the entire city of Barstow.

The state tax credit for solar installations was decreasing on January 1^st. By the time there was a preliminary system design and contracts were signed, only 16 days remained in the year to permit, install and inspect the PV array if the full credit was to be claimed.

Solution

The installation entailed a Borrego Solar custom ground-mounted design, utilizing a series of concrete curbs and racks made of hot dipped galvanized steel strut. Inverters were placed on the North side of the array and the AC output conductors were oversized to compensate for voltage drop from the 700-foot trench back to the main meter for the park.

The solar electric system produces electricity during peak times, therefore the park was given a credit for energy produced at the peak rate. This enabled Hacienda to reduce the electric bills by a higher percentage than the percentage reduction in actual electricity usage. The solar electric system produces approximately a third of the electricity used in the park and reduces the electric bills by 40%.

Financial Benefits

“We’re already seeing the financial advantages — and the system is extremely low-maintenance,” Sharon Thurston acknowledged.

After the rebate from the state, the federal and state tax credits and the depreciation savings, Hacienda was able to finance the system so that their monthly energy bill savings and tax savings would pay their monthly loan payments on the system.

“I wanted to take advantage of solar technology at the park for two reasons: to use green technology, and to save money,” says Thurston. “I view this as a long-term investment — the system is warranted for 25 years, and we get over 260 days of sunshine here a year — well over the national average - so solar just made sense.”