California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI) Solar Array Project

California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI) Solar Array Project

The project involves the installation of a 3.75-megawatt ground mounted, fixed tilt solar photovoltaic (PV) system. An inactive pump house existing on the project site would remain. The solar PV system would consist of solar PV modules mounted on fixed tilt racking, inverters, and electrical equipment. Solar PV panels would be located on piles ranging from a height of approximately 9 feet above the ground at the southern edge of the project site to 4 feet above the ground at the northern edge of the project site. Solar PV panels would be located on piles driven into the ground to a depth of ten to 14 feet and supports would be bolted onto the piles. The solar PV modules extend an additional 4.5 feet above the piles. Electrical equipment would be clustered in two locations on pads approximately six to eight feet above the ground. Farm roads currently exist off of Old Lewis Road to access the project site, and 20-foot wide, unpaved access roads would be constructed along the perimeter of the project site and between the solar PV arrays. The project includes six-foot high perimeter fencing with barbed wire and access gates around the solar PV array and equipment. Additionally, six- to eight-foot tall toyon trees would be planted along 1,400 linear feet of the parcel’s northern boundary and 1,300 linear feet of the western boundary. Approximately 200 to 300 feet of trenching and conduit routing will be required to get from the solar PV array station to the vault where existing conduits begin on University Drive. Construction would take up to seven months and is anticipated to begin in September 2020 and end by June 2021. Operation of the proposed project would be automated and unstaffed. Production, system health and on-site weather data would be monitored and gathered electronically. Vegetation within the project site would be maintained by livestock grazing or other non-mechanical control technique. Alternatively, a weed trimmer may be used within the fenced solar PV array area. Outside the fence, the campus would plan to maintain a thirty-foot fire break by similar maintenance technique to protect the solar PV array against wildfire damage.

Ventura

Southern California, Unincorporated