The photovoltaic (PV) array, just west of the SMUD Headquarters building on S Street, which is visible from Highway 50, was just completed. It delivers 80 kilowatts of power produced by the sun, which is enough power to provide electricity for about 40 single-family homes or provide hydrogen for about 14 fuel-cell vehicles. Construction on the hydrogen fueling station will be done by the end of the year. Until then, the solar power generated by the panels will feed into the SMUD grid. 

Designed as a demonstration project, the solar-powered fueling station will fuel the seven fuel-cell electric vehicles that SMUD is testing in a partnership with BP, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler. As the solar panels make electricity, an electrolyzer at the station will use that energy to separate water into hydrogen to make clean fuel for the vehicles. The amount of hydrogen produced at the site will be kept low for safety considerations.

The photovoltaic array is sited where an old building was demolished and it also replaces a smaller photovoltaic array that SMUD installed in the early 1990s to support SMUD’s then fleet of battery electric vehicles. SMUD still operates many battery electric vehicles but they are now dispersed throughout the SMUD campus.

One of the core values of the SMUD Board of Directors is environmental protection, which is why, for nearly 20 years, the electric utility has been at the forefront of testing and adapting alternative fuel vehicles to District business. In addition to the fuel-cell vehicles, SMUD is also testing battery electric vehicles and a plug- in hybrid vehicle that gets 100 miles per gallon. SMUD also uses numerous conventional hybrid vehicles as well as several flex fuel vehicles that can use ethanol fuel or gasoline.
For more information about SMUD’s use of alternative fuel vehicles, please visit www.smud.org.