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[Malibu] City Hall could receive colored solar panel array

http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/city/city-hall-could-receive-colored-solar-panel-array

Malibu City Hall could provide its own power if a project to install colored solar panels passes muster.

The City’s Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee received and filed a report at its meeting Monday, March 9, regarding the potential installation of colored solar panels on Malibu City Hall’s roof and south-facing facade.

Dubbed the “Malibu Blue Solar Photovoltaic Project,” the effort is proposed by a team of solar and design experts from various disciplines within the solar energy industry.

“The intent of this proposal was to use City Hall as a demonstration project for these new technologies and systems,” a City staff report states.

Funded by Akuo Investment Management – a Luxembourg-based firm – the project would be a collaboration between Malibu-based Busch Design Build and Ventura-based Colored Solar to install the panels on Malibu City Hall.

Although the City will incur no costs to fund or construct the project, its end of the bargain is to buy the solar-generated power from Malibu Blue solar PV Plant LLC, which would be created by Akuo Investment Management and backed by investors.

“A few interested parties have already expressed their interest,” a draft of the project’s report states.

Developed by SwissInso Holding, Inc., “Kromatix” colored solar panels use a colored piece of glass to conceal the light-gathering photovoltaic array. Malibu City Hall’s solar panels would be colored in a combination of blues and sea foam green, and placed such that they would resemble waves.

Douglas Busch, a local photographer and architect who owns Busch Design Build, said the Power Purchas Agreement (PPA) needs to return to the subcommittee for its final review, and explained his interest in bringing the project to the City’s attention.

“These solar panels have never been used in the United States before, and this kind of design isn’t what most people do,” Busch said. “The City likes the idea, so we just have to come back to the subcommittee for final review.”

In 2014, Malibu City Hall’s electricity consumption amounted to an average of 41,680 kWh. During the course of a year, the solar panels would cover that average and provide a surplus of energy during longer days between March and August.

The surplus energy, during the expected 25 years of the project’s lifetime, could generate more than $400,000 in savings, and the project may save as much as 345 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.