Calif. Taco Bell Goes Solar

ALBANY, Calif. — The Taco Bell restaurant franchise in Albany became the first commercial facility in California to receive a PG&E rebate check earlier this week for installing a solar hot water system. The rebate came under the new CSI-Thermal program for commercial and multifamily applications. Berkeley’s Sun Light & Power installed the system.

 

PRB Management, which owns the Albany Taco Bell, replaced the existing restaurant, opting to install a solar water heating system instead of the more common PV solar system due to limited roof space. The solar hot water system offsets 300 therms of natural gas per year. PRB estimates the system will save it thousands of dollars in operating costs.

 

The new restaurant meets Albany’s requirements a a Certified Green Building under the city’s green building ordinance.

   

The CSI-Thermal rebate check totals $3,649. In conjunction with a federal tax credit of 30 percent, PRB estimates a 50 percent reduction in the cost of the system. According to Sun Light & Power, the system’s long life span will provide 30 years or more of savings on natural gas bills.

 

The solar hot water system is comprised of two Heliodyne Gobi 410 collectors, comprising 80 square feet of solar surface area. It is configured as an Active Closed Loop System feeding a 119-gallon solar storage tank and is sized to offset a portion of the tank’s usage, estimated at 500 gallons of hot water per day. The closed loop system will prevent freeze damage, overheating and water scaling.

 

A similar system was designed and installed by Sun Light & Power on the Taco Bell in Rancho Cordova, outside Sacramento, at approximately the same time.