USC’s largest solar installation soon will generate clean, renewable electricity atop the Carole Little Building (CAL), marking the completion of a major campus sustainability project.
The 1,042 solar modules cover 36,352 square feet across two roofs and will provide more than 600 kilowatts of generating capacity. The system is expected to produce clean electricity that is equivalent to offsetting carbon emissions from burning more than 53,000 gallons of gasoline annually, helping meet CAL’s energy needs with renewable, on-site generation.
The CAL project expands USC’s growing network of on-site solar installations. Solar arrays have also been installed at the Galen Center; USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island; the Vista, Windsor, Stardust and Seven Gables housing complexes; the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Human-Centered Computation Hall; and the Bloom Football Performance Center.
The CAL array represents another step in USC’s transition toward cleaner energy infrastructure and demonstrates how existing campus spaces can be used to generate renewable power on site. The project is part of USC’s broader efforts under Assignment: Earth, the university’s sustainability framework, to reduce its environmental impact and expand the use of renewable energy across university facilities.