fromwww.pressdemocrat.com
1 week agoNapa Valley College's $7.5 million solar field was once a model. Now it sits dead in the weeds
A crowd had assembled to toast the school's new solar field 5,600 photovoltaic panels arranged in neat rows across 5 acres of floodplain the school said couldn't be used for much else beyond hay cultivation. Solar installations are ubiquitous now, on desert plains, winery properties and carports. In 2006, they looked like the future. Rep. Mike Thompson addressed the onlookers that day, calling the project a model and inspiration. Then two students flipped a symbolic power switch, marking what was seen as the beginning of a new energy era for the campus.