Kids’ club one step closer to solar

The Boys and Girls Club of Chico is much closer to its goal of installing a solar-power system at its teen center, after PG&E donated $25,000 to local solar-installation company Alternative Energy Systems Inc.’s Solar Pledge Program, which will help fund the club’s solar system, according to an AES press release.

In March 2010, AES launched the Solar Pledge Program for the Boys and Girls Club, promising to donate $500 to its solar-system fund each time AES secured a solar contract. So far, the fund has collected $25,000.

PG&E’s grant—which doubles the AES/Boys and Girls Club solar fund-pot—is the largest single donation for a solar project north of Sacramento. The Boys and Girls Club hopes to save more than $5,500 in annual energy costs by going solar, enough to pay for one of its five core programs for a year.