Long Beach Fire Station No. 12

Project Type:
Solar

Project Title:
Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 & Emergency Resource Center

Location:
Long Beach, CA

Owner:
City of Long Beach

Contractor:
Gonzales Construction

The Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 and Emergency Resource Center is one of the fire stations under the Long Beach Fire Department. Responding to fire, beach, medical, and waterway emergencies is one of the core services of the department. The department also coordinates Homeland Security efforts and the city’s disaster management.

RBT Electric was subcontracted by Gonzales Construction to install a 21.62 KW DC carport canopy mounted photovoltaic (PV) system at the Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 and Emergency Resource Center. The plan was to connect the PV system to the Southern California Edison utility grid through a grid interactive power conditioner.

For the Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 project, RBT Electric was required to maximize power and energy output of the facility without exceeding its requirements.  We were also required to create the greatest value while ensuring that the installation did not damage the carport canopy. The energy and power output of the facility was to be displayed in real-time in a public area. The scope of the Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 project included the electrical and mechanical design and installation of the PV system.

As the electrical subcontractor, RBT Electric designed and installed various subsystems of the PV system including utility connections, PV modules, and power converter systems. The system was designed for outdoor installation and all the systems were rated and warranted for outdoor local conditions.

For this project, we designed the system, procured equipment in accordance with the requirements of the City of Long Beach, provided labor and supervised the installation of the system, and provided the documentation for the PV system and the equipment used. The PV system for the Long Beach Fire Station No. 12 and Emergency Resource Center was successfully completed on time.

The grid-connected PV system designed and built by RBT Electric met the specifications provided by the City of Long Beach and was commissioned shortly after completion.