Kaiser Permanente is ranked as the #2 commercial solar user in the U.S. Investment tax credits are scheduled to expire for solar in 2016, Hemstreet noted, and if they do, there will be a drop off in those participating in the use of solar. Hemstreet said solar power will remain a viable option as long as tax incentives stay in place. "Those are all factors that need to be considered when you're looking at the cost of a power purchase agreement versus avoided cost of the power you would have been buying through one of those other means." "It really depends what your avoided cost is and it depends what your utility rates are, so it's a case-by-case basis not just state-by-state, but utility rates can vary widely across a state between utility and municipal utilities and sites where you have direct access," Hemstreet said. and Hidden Lake Medical Offices in Colorado.Īdditionally, the health system is actively investigating the opportunity to add as much as 40 megawatts of solar power capacity with on-site installations at dozens of medical campuses and other locations throughout California.Īccording to Rame Hemstreet, Kaiser Permanente's chief energy officer, the decision to use on-site solar has to make sense financially. Kaiser Permanente will increase its on-site generation capacity in 2014 with solar installations at many additional locations, including in Hawaii and at Oakland Medical Center in Oakland, Calif. With a generation capacity of 11.3 megawatts, these arrays generated 18 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2013 – equivalent to the electricity use of about 1, 200 average American homes each year.
It installed solar panels at 13 locations in 2011, including hospitals, medical offices and a distribution center.
#HIDDEN LAKE MEDICAL OFFICES INSTALL#
In July, Kaiser Permanente announced a program to install on-site solar at over 100 hospitals. Solar power is not new to Kaiser Permanente, but the California-based health system is planning to ramp up its usage.
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