The Port of San Diego just spent $341,000 to put up solar panels on the roof of its primary ship terminal as part of a five-year climate action plan adopted to deploy more renewable energy to the port.

An initial cost savings analysis estimated the photo-voltaic system would save about $35,000 a year, which means it would take about nine years for the PV array to pay for itself.

But an updated analysis predicted that the system, installed by Sullivan Solar Power, would see a return on investment in about 3 1/2 years.

According to port officials, the average electric bill at the terminal is $11,600 a month and the new array will reduce expenses by about 70 percent each month.


× The Port of San Diego has installed solar panels on its B St. terminal that will reduce its power usage and will be funded without using tax money.

“Identifying energy efficiency measures and offsetting our energies to renewables (are) fiscally responsible for the port to do but it also advances the achievement of our climate action plan goals,” said Renée Yarmy, program manager for the port’s department of energy and sustainability.

The $341,000 solar project came from an environmental fund created by the port to pay for a range of projects that include alternative energy and water conservation put up for competitive bids.

A self-sustaining entity, the Port of San Diego’s revenue comes from a variety of sources including commercial real estate around the bay, fees from ships using the port’s docks and wharves and cargo terminals that bring in cars to the port.


“The state legislation that created us gives us authority to tax but we do not tax,” said Tanya Castaneda, the port’s public information officer.

Yarmy said the Port of San Diego is the first port agency in the country to adopt a climate action plan, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and trying to find ways to improve air quality in the region.

Board members at the port earlier this month approved $2.6 million for the 2016-2017 fiscal year to invest in renewables, energy-efficiency and other sustainable programs. The primary ship terminal on B Street is expected to produce about 266,000 kilowatt hours per year.

“We had a very good year and now the commissioners are reinvesting that in energy projects across the tidelands,” Yarmy said. “This is the first time our team (has dedicated funding) on a climate action plan that actually had capital to invest in these types of projects.”


The port’s climate action plan is separate from the City of San Diego’s climate action plan, which was approved in December and calls for using 100 percent renewable energy citywide by 2035.

But Yarmy said the port and the city work with each other when their climate plans overlap.