Patrick Sheilds’s scientific contributions

The Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA), Chino, California, US, adopted large-scale solar energy production strategy to generate renewable energy. It installed SunPower® solar panels and trackers at four of its treatment plants, generating 3.5 MW of clean solar power. The combined systems were expected to help the agency fulfill its goal of powering 100% of its operations with renewable energy resources by 2010. It was also expected to save $500,000 per annum in electricity costs, using the combined solar systems. The agency commissioned a feasibility study in July, 2007 to determine the potential of solar power as an appropriate renewable energy strategy for its sites. The study confirmed that that solar power was economically viable. It also assessed multiple lands that were available for installing a combination of ground-based fixed-tilt and single-axis sun-tracking systems.