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CAPITOLA — Nearly five years after the construction of the updated Capitola Branch Library, solar panels and a battery energy storage system have been added to the building. The Capitola Branch Library solar and battery storage project will make the library Capitola’s first energy neutral public building and to celebrate, the city of Capitola, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, the Friends of the Capitola Library and other partners will be hosting a ribbon-cutting to unveil the project on Saturday.
Solar power was always part of the plan for the new library, but as the building neared completion, the solar panel installation was put on hold due to budget constraints. The Friends of the Capitola Library, a volunteer group, took it upon themselves to raise the half million dollars that would be needed to install the solar panels and battery storage. After around five years of fundraising, the solar energy system is now installed.
The solar project was managed by Santa Cruz County and involved many partners, including the city of Capitola and Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Local engineering company OurEnergy, partnered with Allterra Solar, provided many services to the county, including construction oversight, design assistant and quality assurance.
The solar project includes some 126 solar panels covering most of the building’s roof, providing 73 kilowatts of energy, as well as a battery to store solar energy to be used at night. A 123 kilowatt-hour battery energy storage system accompanies the solar panels, storing excess solar energy produced during the day for optimized use, including after the sun has gone down. The battery is about the size of a refrigerator, and is located outside the building. It can also provide up to 15 hours of energy in the case of a power shutoff.
Once the solar energy system is implemented, the library will become energy neutral. Over the course of a year, the system will produce about the same amount of energy it uses. Because it’s a public building that may be used in case of outages or other emergencies, the library will remain hooked up to the grid to ensure it has continued access to power. It may need to draw power from the grid during darker winter days, but that power usage will be balanced by the large amounts of energy produced during the sunny summer months, resulting in net energy neutrality. In addition to making the building energy neutral, the project will also save the library a significant amount of money on power.
Tiffany Wise-West, sustainability and climate action manager for the city of Santa Cruz, is a resident of Capitola. She has given some advice on the project over the past few years, she said, and is set to speak during Saturday’s celebration at the library.
“I’m thrilled to see them going up,” Wise-West said. “As a sustainability professional, I’m glad to see them making the investment. And I hope to see more as a resident.”
Wise-West also believes the solar system will ensure that the library can provide public services, such as device charging, internet access and cooling centers, when they are needed most.
The project was made possible by the fundraising efforts of the Friends of the Capitola Library. Most of the nearly $500,000 that the group raised came from its used bookstore in the Capitola Mall. The store is run by 26 volunteers and sells used books for low prices, usually around $1 or $2 each.
The community has embraced the store, said Toni Campbell, a member of the Friends of the Capitola Library. The group sells 1,300 to 1,400 books per week out of its 4,000-square-foot store, she said, and all of those books are donated by community members. Each day when the bookstore opens at 11 a.m., a group of people are already waiting outside the door to get in, Campbell said.
In 2020, when the bookstore had already been open for over two years, it became clear that there was no budget for solar panels and battery storage at the new library. Campbell and the rest of the Friends of the Capitola Library felt that the solar project was worth raising money for. It had been a part of the vision for the new library since the beginning, and would contribute to sustainability goals while helping the library save money. After getting the okay from Goldstein, who was instrumental to the branch library’s development, the group started saving.
“Making almost half a million is a lot of work. It’s a lot of books,” Campbell said. “Getting to the finish line was not easy. And it feels great to be there.”
Even as they celebrate this significant victory, the Friends of the Capitola Library are already looking toward their next fundraising endeavor. The bookstore is very profitable, Campbell said, and the group wants to continue helping in more significant ways than itcould before the store opened.
“This is almost like a real business,” Campbell said. “It’s an adult lemonade stand, is what it is. It’s a feel-good place that does well in the community.”
In fact, Campbell said, the bookstore had already raised enough money for the solar project about a year ago. Now, with the leftover funds and the profit that keeps coming in from the store, Campbell and the rest of the group are looking into creating an endowment with the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County to benefit the entire Santa Cruz Public Libraries system.
The city of Capitola, Santa Cruz County and Capitola Branch Library will host a celebration of the project’s completion Saturday at 10 a.m. The Santa Cruz Museum of Discovery will provide hands-on activities to teach children about sustainability and renewable energy. Several partners and community members will speak at the event, including Goldstein, Campbell, Wise-West and Capitola Mayor Margaux Morgan.
What: Capitola Branch Library solar and battery storage project ribbon-cutting celebration.
When: 10 a.m., Saturday.
Where: Capitola Branch Library’s Ow Community Room, 2005 Wharf Road.
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