San Francisco International Airport and solar power

The airport handles over 30 million passengers a year providing nonstop service to more than 60 U.S. cities on 20 domestic airlines and to 30 international points on 26 international carriers.

Did you know?

• The completion of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) to the airport in 2003 has allowed an average of 215,000 people a month to travel to and from the airport via public transport. SFO estimates that this development has eliminated 64.5 million miles of auto travel and 28,947 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year

What we are doing?

• San Francisco International Airport is in the process of installing a 445kW solar array.
• 2,832 solar panels will be placed on the roof of the Domestic Terminal 3 building.
• In conjunction with a newly completed project to replace over 6,000 old lighting fixtures with more efficient, fluorescent lighting, the solar system will provide enough power for all daytime lighting needs within Terminal 3.
  

What is the result?

• The city owned solar array will contribute approximately 628,000 kilowatt hours (kwhr) yearly of totally “green”, non-polluting electrical power while also reducing 7,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over its 30 year life. This is the second solar system installed at the airport.
• In September 2001, a smaller 20kW system was installed on the roof of the engineering building. The system has been running ever since providing power to meet the building’s daytime demand and achieving overall savings to date of 150,000 kwhr.