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New Chabot Space & Science Center in the Oakland Hills saves energy – and money – with innovative solar power modules

25 April 2001 – OAKLAND, CA: While California businesses, residents and institutions wonder how the state’s ongoing problems will affect their bottom line, Oakland’s Chabot Space & Science Center (www.chabotspace.org) has already cut its exterior lighting usage in half. The new astronomy / science center in the Oakland Hills is helping ease the power crunch for Bay Area businesses by taking a chunk of its own demand off the power grid with on-site solar power. With monthly PG & E bills of $22,000 down to $12,000, and possibly more in light of the recent PUC decision, Chabot looks to save money, save energy, and provide education enrichment for students through its innovative array of solar energy modules, slated to provide over 15% of the multi-million dollar facility’s energy needs, as the system is expanded.

“We have 324 modules, or panels, covering approximately 3200 square feet of roof space,” says Chabot Executive Director Mike Reynolds. “Ideally, the system can provide up to 27.6 kilowatts of AC power. Generated as DC power it is converted to AC through an inverter and fed directly into Chabot’s electrical room. One of the best things about our solar energy system is that it is virtually maintenance free.” 

“Even on cloudy or dark weather days, the panels continue to generate somewhere between 4 to 12 kilowatts of power,” Reynolds continues.

Originally created for the Oakland school system in 1883, Chabot Space & Science Center has a distinguished history as the first public observatory in the western U.S. and as the provider of highly regarded educational and community programs in astronomy for over 115 years. Its observatory, planetarium, exhibits, and park setting are a place where students, teachers, and the public can imagine, understand, and learn to shape their future through science. The Center has supported a number of programs like Techbridge to ensure that girls fully participate in science and technology.

The new Chabot Space & Science Center opened to the public on August 19, 2000. It is an innovative teaching and learning center focusing on astronomy and the inter-relationships of all the sciences. Its telescope and observatory complex, domed-screen Tien MegaDome Theater, Ask Jeeves Planetarium, exhibits and natural park setting are a place where students, teachers and the public can imagine, understand and learn to shape their future. Set amid thirteen trail-laced acres in Joaquin Miller Park, with glorious views of San Francisco Bay and the Oakland foothills, the $76-million complex offers a hands-on celebration of sights, sounds, and science. 

Chabot Space & Science Center is the continuation and expansion of Oakland, California’s public Chabot Observatory that has served San Francisco Bay Area schools and citizens with astronomy and science education programs for 117 years. The institution began in 1883 as the Oakland Observatory, through a gift from Anthony Chabot to the City of Oakland. The original Oakland Observatory was located in downtown Oakland, and provided public telescope viewing for the community. For decades, it served as the official timekeeping station for the entire Bay Area, measuring time with its transit telescope.

For information and tickets, please call (510) 336-7300. www.chabotspace.org.

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