California solar panel leasing deal sets bright warehouse leasing record

Australian property group Dexus has leased more than 500,000 square metres of warehouse rooftop space in California for use in the provision of solar power, the biggest project of its kind in the US.

The 513,588-square-metre deal has been struck with electricity provider Southern California Edison and will run for 20 years.

SCE will install a solar power system encompassing approximately 36,000 solar panels. At peak generating capacity, the rooftop solar station will generate up to 10 megawatts (DC), enough power to serve approximately 5,200 homes in southern California.

The new solar station will be part of a network of solar plants SCE is building through southern and central California.

Electricity generated by these installations will be transferred directly into the neighbouring SCE energy grid through more than a dozen groups of inverters and transformers built alongside the building.

Victor Hoog Antink, CEO of Dexus Property Group, says the project underscores the group’s commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability.

“The new lease will unlock further value with the Dexus distribution centre to now host two tenants: SCE on the rooftop and Whirlpool within the building it has occupied since 2008,” he says.

Tom Catania, vice president of Government Relations for Whirlpool Corporation, says he expects the warehouse to “soon include the next generation of sustainable appliances, namely ‘smart’ appliances that can receive and respond to a smarter and greener electricity grid”.

Construction on the solar panel station is planned to commence in late 2011 and the station is expected to be online and serving SCE customers in 2012.

The California state government requires that a third of electricity come from renewable sources by 202o.