Multi-Site Municipal Solar

The City of San Antonio is slashing energy costs and reducing pollution by installing solar panels at 42 city-owned buildings and parking lots, using Direct Pay incentives to make the project more affordable. This smart investment is expected to save taxpayers up to $11 million over 25 years, while creating full-time jobs and helping clean up the air for local families and communities.

In October 2019, the City of San Antonio adopted its SA Climate Ready plan, with the goal of making San Antonio carbon neutral by 2050. To lead by example, the City of San Antonio finalized a deal in November 2023 to install an estimated 13.1 megawatts (MW) of solar across 42 city-owned facilities and parking lots. Site-by-site progress can be tracked here.

The City signed master services agreement with local solar developer Big Sun Solar. The contract includes the option for additional services should the city wish to add other viable sites beyond the 42 identified. While the City will own the solar arrays across all its facilities, it also signed a separate contract from the developer to pay for annual operations and maintenance and ensure the project is performing efficiently and effectively. To ease the upfront cost impact, the City is also strategically borrowing $2.5 million in a low-interest loan program from Texas’ State Energy Conservation Office. Over the 25 years, the $30 million upfront investment is conservatively expected to result in a net savings of $7-11 million and hedge against higher utility rates in the future.