APCD
Source: Air Pollution Control District
Electric vehicle drivers visiting Lompoc can now “drive on sunshine” by using solar-powered charging stations at Lompoc Valley Medical Center.
Community members are welcome to charge their electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles at the hospital located at 1515 East Ocean Ave. using the Electric Vehicle Autonomous Renewable Charge (EV ARC) stations at any time of the day. The two stations are available for public use at no cost to station users with a ChargePoint™ account. First-time station users can sign up for a free ChargePoint account at https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/activate, or through the ChargePoint mobile app.
Lompoc City Council authorized the purchase of both EV ARC stations back in July 2021, using a $100,000 infrastructure grant provided to the city through the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District’s Clean Air Grants Program, which covered a majority of the cost. The product manufacturer and retailer, Beam Global, delivered the EV ARC stations in late January 2022.
The EV ARC systems are designed to generate and store clean electricity, then deliver that electricity to electric and hybrid vehicles at any given time of the day. Power can even be delivered through the system during inclement weather or power outages. Each EV ARC station features a 222 square-foot solar array, and is rated to withstand wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. Both stations offer two charging plugs, allowing up to four EVs to charge simultaneously between the two stations. The stations provide a reliable charge speed of up to 3.8kW when one car is plugged in, and 1.9kW per vehicle when two cars are plugged into a single station.
The charging stations are helping the City of Lompoc Electric Division conduct research that will identify strategies for the city to use distributed energy resources like battery storage and solar photovoltaics to provide new services like EV charging in an affordable and reliable manner.
The City of Lompoc is the only publicly owned utility in Santa Barbara County, and is dedicated to providing affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity to meet the needs of the local community.
Lompoc Utility Director Charles Berry said he is grateful for the city’s partnership with the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District and Lompoc Valley Medical Center that made possible the investment of Nanogrid technology in Lompoc.
“This is one more step in deploying modern technology to support the State of California in its ambitious climate agenda, while simultaneously supporting the Lompoc community as it transitions to electrified transportation,” Berry said. “With an ever-increasing understanding of the use habits of these chargers, we can continue to find new and innovative ways to add value to our community in thoughtful ways that reflect sustainability for Lompoc.”
Aeron Arlin Genet, Director of Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, also praised the community partnership.
“We are excited to partner with the City of Lompoc to help purchase these sunshine-powered charging stations, and thank the Lompoc Valley Medical Center for having them installed at their campus,” Arlin Genet said. “We encourage all eligible entities to consider our Clean Air Grants Program for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. With high gasoline prices, now is a great time for drivers to look into the always-increasing range of makes and models of electric cars, available at many price points.”
Community members are invited to view the following website for information on different cars and rebates: https://www.electricforall.org/which-car-is-right/.
Questions from the public related to the solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations at Lompoc Valley Medical Center can be directed to the City of Lompoc Utility Conservation Division at (805) 875-8252.
This is great news! Happy to see Lompoc embracing alternative energy. Sure, it’s not ready to completely take over our oil dependency, but it’s long past time we, as Americans, start adopting renewable energy as much as we can. There’s nothing to lose that isn’t already being lost tenfold or more due to oil production and consumption.
Ah yes…..
That’s right 12:53, repent for your sins and buy solar panels or mother Gaia will bring on the fire and brimstone as the prophet Albert Gore foretold. Just be sure not to think too hard about the practicality or environmental impact of solar, nothing to see there.
CHIP – pray tell, is the “environmental impact of solar” worse than oil and coal production?
These changes are a huge undertaking and a work in progress. It’s not going to happen overnight. Meanwhile oil and gas are not going away soon and are very necessary “evil”, some may say.
Any bets on how long its going to be free?
Some refreshing common sense LCP, we have a great carbon free goal but the road to that goal is paved in oil (literally). To many expect and demand significant change to occur immediately, instant greenification if you will, but it is a process.
Yeah, we should embrace failure, and continue to foul our only nest.
12:39 – What “failure?”
The failure to recognize that fossil fuel use is wanton stupidity and ultimately suicidal.