"Our Campus was built to be environmentally sensitive with many advanced features that earned us a Silver LEED certification," said OFJCC CEO Zack Bodner. "By installing this solar rooftop, we are furthering our goal of being an ecologically progressive organization, reducing both our carbon footprint and our energy costs."

The OFJCC solar array encompasses 1,840 solar panels spread across the rooftops of the 12 buildings of the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life (TKCJL), which also includes Moldaw Family Residences for senior living.

"This is one of the more innovative deals we have done," said Zach Rubin, CEO of THiNKnrg. "Solar is advantageous in Palo Alto, but it still has to make sense financially. We identified that the Taube Koret Campus had enough quality roof space to facilitate a large installation that could take advantage of incentives and be attractive to investors. We are thrilled this project was a success and look forward to working with other organizations who could benefit from similar electricity cost savings."

This solar project was financed by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which required no capital cost to the OFJCC and utilized all available incentives. Conergy, a leading global solar photovoltaic downstream company, along with its owner Kawa Capital Management, structured the PPA to supply the OFJCC with renewable energy at less than half the current energy rate. The campus is expected to save $26,000 in the first year and an estimated $1.5 million in energy savings over the 20-year contract. The solar roof system will supply approximately 20 percent of the OFJCC’s energy needs.

"Trina Solar is committed to strong partnerships with leading companies to successfully complete installations of our high-quality panels for customers like the OFJCC," said Mark Mendenhall, President of Trina Solar Americas. "Our new Trinasmart panels provide a significant benefit to the project economics for our partners and to the communities where they are installed. We look forward to installing many more such systems in the future."

The OFJCC solar installation is expected to generate 616,920 kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduce the TKCJL’s carbon footprint by approximately over 9,500 tons of CO2 over the next 20 years, the equivalent of growing over 223,000 tree seedlings or removing 1,814 passenger cars from the road.