Mayor of South Pasadena Recognizes Community Leaders for Installing Largest Commercial Solar System in South Pasadena

SOUTH PASADENA, CA—Mayor Michael Cacciotti will recognize business leaders Jeffrey Burke and Lorraine Triolo at a news conference on for installing the largest commercial solar electricity system in South Pasadena and Pasadena, thereby reducing the community’s carbon footprint. The 41.58-kilowatt array, to be unveiled at the event, also will help support the cities’ power supply.

Installed by Energy Efficiency Solar of Pomona, the photovoltaic system will provide a significant portion of the electricity needed to power a commercial building at 99 Pasadena Avenue, where 60 employees work for JupiterMedia. Burke and Triolo (Burke’s wife), long-time South Pasadena residents, own the building and founded PictureArts, the corporation they built into one of the Internet’s largest stock photography suppliers before its acquisition by JupiterMedia.

By displacing a portion of the electricity that would otherwise be provided by the grid, the solar array will reduce by nearly 67,000 pounds the amount of carbon dioxide—the chief global warming gas—emitted into the air each year.

“The effort to curb climate change must be undertaken by all segments of our society, from the government to the private sector,” said Mayor Cacciotti, who will present Burke and Triolo with a Certificate of Recognition at the news conference. “Jeffrey Burke and Lorraine Triolo’s use of solar power, a clean, abundant and renewable resource, is a great example of entrepreneurial leadership and establishes an environmental benchmark for other businesses to follow.”

Solar arrays such as this one, which will generate 5,500-kilowatt hours of electricity each month, not only help in the battle against global warming, but can shore up the community’s electricity supply. The system comprises 198 solar modules from SunPower Corp., which manufactures the most efficient panels available. It will produce the most power during peak periods of demand on the local grid, thereby reducing the risk of community brownouts.

Congressman Adam B. Schiff, whose 29th district includes South Pasadena and Pasadena, also commended Burke and Triolo for the installation. “Many of America's most successful companies have realized that something must be done to contain global warming…The American people are ready for a clean energy economy,” Congressman Schiff said earlier this year on the House Floor. “I applaud our own local business community leaders Jeffrey Burke and Lorraine Triolo for doing their part to help curb climate change.”

The green upgrade to 99 Pasadena will include other improvements to the energy efficiency of the building, as well as construction of an educational display allowing employees and visitors to learn about the solar array and to see how much electricity it is generating moment to moment. This work is being done by Energy Efficiency Solar, which has completed more than 500 solar panel installations throughout Southern California. William Korthof, Energy Efficiency’s owner, will attend the installation’s unveiling.

The new solar system represents a first step in the redevelopment of 99 Pasadena Avenue’s immediate area, known as South Pasadena’s Ostrich Farm district. Burke and Triolo, named 2005 Entrepreneurs of the Year by the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, invested heavily to purchase and rehabilitate the property in 2002. Their renovation of it resulted in the creation of a new headquarters for PictureArts, formerly based in Culver City. Burke and Triolo also have begun construction on a new three-story, 20,000-square-foot building on property acquired from the city of South Pasadena, to be attached to the existing 16,000-square-foot structure. The addition will have a solar array of its own, said attorney Greg Surman, who is Burke’s chief consultant on the solar electricity projects. Completion and leasing availability for that project is scheduled for January 2009.

Energy Efficiency Solar has been installing solar power systems as large as 246 kilowatts for homes and businesses for more than a decade. For more information, visit www.eesolar.com or call (909) 865-8561.

Media Contact: Zan Dubin Scott (ZDS Communications)
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