Timmons Design Engineers were commissioned by the City of Palo Alto to design grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) systems to be installed on three City owned properties. The objective was to integrate the systems aesthetically into the existing properties while maximizing power production and educating the public about PV technology. An educational component will be integrated into each of the sites for the public. In addition there will be continuous web-based monitoring which displays the systems output and performance.

The Cubberley Community Center is a 22 building campus encompassing pre-schools, performance centers and more for the Palo Alto community. The rooftop will house large penetrationless arrays providing a total power estimation of about 157kW. A PV canopy design was designed to demonstrate the use of PV in an architectural feature and display semi-transparent PV technology with an attractive underside. The canopy array is an addition to the building and will be sloped at 15° to increase power production efficiency as well as be better showcased to visitors of the center in the parking lot. The canopy system is designed to produce about 26kW. Altogether the PV systems on the Cubberley Center are expected to produce approximately 339,500kWh per year, or enough to power about 40 average homes.

Architect: Arkin-Tilt