San Antonio City Council on Thursday approved a project to install solar panels at 42 municipal facilities, including on rooftops and over parking lots.
The $30.8 million project was hailed by city officials as the largest on-site solar project in Texas. The energy produced will be used to power municipal buildings, helping the City of San Antonio reach its goal of having net zero emissions by 2050.
The city has partnered with San Antonio-based Big Sun Solar for the project and plans to start installing the panels this upcoming spring, with completion anticipated in fall 2026. Big Sun Solar will be responsible for the installation and short-term maintenance of the new solar panel systems under the approved agreement.
Twenty-three of the solar installations will take the form of parking canopies over existing parking areas, which also will provide shade for vehicles.
This project “provides a significant step” in the implementation of the city’s climate action plan the City Council adopted in 2019, Douglas Melnick, the city’s chief sustainability officer, told council members on Thursday.
“Approximately half of our community’s emissions come from buildings,” he said, “and to meet our reduction goals, the production and procurement of renewable energy such as solar must be part of this equation.”
The 42 installation locations will be spread across the city’s council districts and include four community resilience hubs, Melnick said.
Municipal buildings will still be backed by CPS Energy’s local grid system, for when more power is needed or if no solar power is being produced, Melnick said. But while CPS Energy is the city’s electric provider, this project will operate mostly separately from the utility, according to Melnick.
Once installation is complete at the 42 locations, the city estimates the project will generate 12,718 kilowatts annually with a yearly estimated savings of $1.8 million for the city. That will offset an estimated 11% of the city’s electricity consumption and reduce emissions from city-owned buildings by about 18%, “which is a really nice bite at that apple,” Melnick said.
Funding for the project comes from several sources: $18.3 million from issuing bonds, $2.5 million from a 2% LoanSTAR loan from the State Energy Conservation Office, and $10 million from Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. Melnick said it would take 10 or 11 years for the city to pay off the bond debt through savings incurred from the project.
City Council members were mostly receptive to the project, which was approved on a 9-1 vote.
“There is nothing but good news with this contract and with this project, and I salute all the people in our city team that have been working on this,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Councilman Mark Whyte (D10) was the sole no-vote, raising concerns over the project due to its long timeline for financial returns.
“I appreciate the mission here and certainly all of the hard work … [but] for me it’s a matter of taxpayer dollars, what we’re doing with our money, what debt we’re taking on,” he said. “This is a large amount of debt — $18 million — without any voter approval, and I think it’s it’s a large amount of money. So I’m torn on this one.”
