SAN PEDRO, CA-The Port of Los Angeles has completed a 71,500-square-foot, one-megawatt power plant on the roof of the World Cruise Center here that is the first of a multiple-location system designed to produce 10 megawatts. The new solar plant is capable of generating approximately 1.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

The solar photovoltaic installation, which is expected to result in an annual $200,000 energy cost savings, is the first phase of a multi-location, $10.8-million solar power program that will include a total of 1.16 million square feet of rooftop solar panels, larger than the size of a football field. Three additional project phases are slated for completion over the next five years.

Over the solar system's lifetime, it will reduce roughly 22,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, the equivalent of cutting the annual greenhouse gases of 4,367 cars, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The system is composed of 5,140, 210-watt solar modules. It was installed by the Energy Alternatives Division of San Jose-based Cupertino Electric Inc.

The roof-mounted system, which collects and converts solar radiation to electrical energy, features high-efficiency crystalline modules and utilizes a self-ballasted racking system that does not penetrate the terminal’s existing roof. Electricity generated is then routed back to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power through an existing electric meter at the World Cruise Center facility.

The solar panel project is part of a $42 million upgrade at the World Cruise Center, an inner-harbor facility just south of the Vincent Thomas Bridge that was the home of the original “Love Boat” in the 1970s. The solar power is one of a number of measures that the port is implementing to provide clean-energy solutions. Additionally, Alternative Maritime Power, currently used at some container ship terminals, will soon be available so that cruise ships can “plug in” to shoreside electrical power instead of running on diesel power while at berth. Depending on the size of the ship, estimates are that AMP will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by one ton (2,000 pounds) and reduce 85% of sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions out of the air each day a ship is at berth and plugged in.