PITTSBURG — The school district here is installing solar panels in all its schools, a move expected to save more than $28 million over the life of the panels.

The district will spend $18.5 million from Measure L, the school construction bond issue passed by voters Nov. 2, to put the panels at 14 school sites and offices.

The panels have a 30-year expected life span and will offset the equivalent of 10 million gallons of gasoline, according to Rohnert Park-based Stellar Energy, the contractor on the project.

Foothill Elementary School has its panels and other sites will receive theirs over the next two years, according to associate superintendent Enrique Palacios.

Contra Costa Office of Eduction spokeswoman Peggy Marshburn said Foothill is the first school site in the county she is aware of to go to solar.

The entire system will pay for itself in about 12 years, Palacios said.

The district will have maintenance contracts for the panels that preclude unexpected costs.

“The panels will be installed on school roofs where there is space and over parking lots,” he said.

Palacios is looking into fuel cells as an alternative to panels at Marina Vista Elementary School downtown.

The two-story school is built on a small city block with limited parking and a large soccer field in the rear.

“The site is small, and you need lots of square footage for solar panels,” Palacios said.

The district dropped an earlier proposal to install solar lighting at Pittsburg High School’s football field because the savings weren’t sufficient to justify the expense, he said.

 The San Ramon Valley and Mt. Diablo school districts and the Contra Costa Office of Education are also converting facilities to solar.

Voters in the Martinez and West Contra Costa school districts passed bond measures that could be used to pay for solar.

Danville-based San Ramon Valley will use $25 million in low-interest bonds underwritten by the federal government to install panels at four high schools and one middle school.

The panels will be mounted over the school parking lots and generate about two-thirds of the electricity used by the schools, said district spokesman Terry Koehne.

San Ramon Valley will save about $2 million a year, enabling the district to pay off the bonds in 17 years, Koehne said.

The district plans to begin construction this summer, with completion planned for the fall, he said.

Mt. Diablo, based in Concord, has a larger project on the drawing boards.

The district plans to spend $67.4 million in bond money to produce about 12 megawatts of power at 51 school sites.

Over 30 years, the district estimates that the project could save $192.5 million in energy costs.

The county office is installing solar panels at its headquarters in Pleasant Hill and at its Mauzy School for developmentally disabled students in Alamo, Marshburn said.

Those projects are expected to be completed in February.

Contact Rick Radin at 925-779-7166.

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