Edhat Staff
The Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation announces the completion of a 133.33 kWp solar system to offset power consumption for concerts and daily operations.
Made up of three separate arrays throughout the property, including a 200-panel ground-mount array, this system will create approximately 75% of the energy consumed by the facilities year-round and concerts at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Constructed over five winters and managed by local business Sun Pacific Solar Electric, Inc., the system came fully online in July 2022.
The Gainey Foundation was instrumental in bringing this project from a wish to a reality. Foundation President Dan Gainey was passionate about creating this lasting community impact.
“The Santa Barbara Bowl is a beloved part of our community,” states Gainey. “It was designed to harmonize with its environment, and we see this as a way to create a more sustainable concert experience.”
Since 2020, over 560 MWh have been generated as part of this multi-phased installation of arrays, saving over 870,000 lbs. of CO2. This is all part of the industry-leading Greening The Bowl initiative to lower concerts’ carbon footprint as much as possible.
Rick Boller, CEO of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, has proudly led the Santa Barbara Bowl in stewardship of the environment in the concert industry. “It is with deep gratitude to our family of generous donors that we continue to innovate to reduce our impact and create a lasting legacy through all of our Greening initiatives,” says Boller.
Other Santa Barbara Bowl innovative initiatives include hand-sorting event waste, diverting 75% from landfills, partnering with r.Cup for a 100% reusable cup solution for all drinks, 85% of concession items sourced organically and/or locally, complimentary bike valet at all events in partnership with Move Santa Barbara County, and an industry-first reusable souvenir pint program that includes discounts on all your refills of Bowl Souvenir pints.
To learn more about donation opportunities for Greening initiatives, Education Outreach initiatives, and facility enhancements, visit sbbowl.com
Why not get solar power from large solar farms, which are three times as efficient and easier to construct and maintain?
RUBAIYAT – good on you for acknowledging the efficiency of solar farms, but there isn’t the space needed for a farm anywhere in town. Such farms require acres of flat and open land, which we just don’t really have around here. Harnessing what solar energy we can, though, is a step in the right direction! We shouldn’t avoid renewables just because we don’t have room for a full, grid-scale operation.
Every little bit helps! Proud to see The Bowl embracing clean energy even at this scale!
Plus, remote large solar farms require transmission lines which are extremely costly, degrade the environment, and potentially can cause wildfires.
CONDORHIKER – in what way do you believe solar farms “degrade the environment, and potentially can cause wildfires?”
There’s a ton of misinformation out there about solar and wind farms.
Seems they are referencing the potential for transmission lines to go down and spark fires which is a valid concern.
There is a lot of land close by the population centers that could work for solar farms, this can even work for farms and ranches where the ag being operated my benefit from partial shading. It would not be necessary to pull brand new transmission lines if coastal areas are used. Distributed micro-grids are actually a necessity to our community’s security as Montecito to Gaviota is served by a single line that is highly vulnerable. If that line goes down we will potentially lack power for the entire coast for weeks. Distributed Microgrids can mitigate that risk.
Sure, transmission lines are always a risk, regardless of the source of electricity. I don’t think it’s feasible (or really practical) to get a coastal, grid scale farm here in our area for many reasons and that’s fine. What we’re doing with the parking lots, roofs, etc like this is important as well.
However, there are a lot of myths out there, as with wind farms, that need to be dispelled so we can progress with a cleaner energy profile.
condorhiker doesn’t believe that solar farms degrade the environment. They clearly referred to “transmission lines which are extremely costly, degrade the environment, and potentially can cause wildfires.”
ANON and CONDORHIKER – My bad, I misread it.
My concern was rooted in the vast amounts of misinformation so many listen to and spread about renewables.
Better than covering large tracts of ecologically necessary undeveloped land is to install distributed solar on rooftops and as coverage over our vast tracts of parking space. Microgrids are much more resilient than centralized generation, where a single point failure on a transmission line can wipe out the power supply to a large area. Power to the neighborhoods!
The farms produce power at ⅓ the cost – important to some of us. There is plenty of land, including the Sant Ynez Valley. there are many long power lines, many going from state to state.
Shortsighted, foolish, and wasteful, but that’s what the power companies want from you, their happy little pawn.