TLCD Architecture’s award-winning Maintenance Facility for the Mendocino Transit Authority was designed with a “sawtooth” roof with high, north-facing windows that allow a substantial amount of daylight into the interior, while providing the ideal orientation for photovoltaic (solar) panels.  In addition to the photovoltaic panels on the roof of the building, panels were installed on shade canopies at the complex.

Gaia Energy Systems installed 18 kilowattes of SolarWorld solar panels at the complex. Mendocino Transit Authority’s 18-kW installation of SolarWorld solar panels is the first in the nation to take advantage of a new local-government solar-purchasing cooperative. The program, Helping Governments across the Country Buy (HGACBuy), allows participating local governments to reduce the cost of going solar by sharing procurement contracts, pooling technical expertise and leveraging economies of scale.

“We appreciate having access to quality American-made solar panels at attractive prices. We thought the application process was straight-forward and reasonably fast,” said Dan Baxter, general manager for MTA.