Patients at the San Diego Cardiac Center can take heart in knowing that the center is powered by solar, thanks to a new 60-kilowatt rooftop array installed on the building by Stellar Solar.

The center will significantly slash its electric bills with the system.

“This was as much of a financial decision as it was an environmental one; we found we could produce our own solar electricity onsite for a cost that was about 70 percent lower than what [San Diego Gas & Electric] charges us," said Ron Miller, M.D., the head of the center.

The cardiac center purchased the system outright, according to Stellar Solar’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing Michael Powers.

The array will provide about 60 percent of electricity used on site, Powers said.

“It’s a relatively small building in terms of square footage,” Powers said.

The small footprint of the building meant that the company couldn’t build a larger rooftop solar installation.

“To be honest that’s the first one of this type,” Powers said.

The company has done a lot of small commercial installations that are under 100 kilowatts, including a recently installed 45 kilowatt system for a car repair shop.

“We’ve done a lot of different types of businesses,” he said, but this is the first time the company has installed an array at a medical facility.

Stellar looks for a certain energy footprint for solar in light commercial settings. The cardiac center, which is primarily an office building and not a heavy user of electricity, made sense for the company, according to Powers.

“Restaurants and heavy manufacturing,” he said, “where you have heavy electrical—not as good a fit.”

The head doctor at the center heard about Stellar and its work on the 500-kW Salk Institute project on the radio.

“We sponsor the PBS station in San Diego. When we did the Salk Institute we mentioned that in our tag. Dr. Ron Miller who’s head of the cardiac center heard that announcement,” he said.

It’s part of Stellar’s robust marketing campaign, which includes a retail store in San Diego that recently opened.

“We’re definitely doing installations that we do through the store. The thing that really made the difference is at the same time we started doing the store, we offered a lease. For customers that aren’t sitting on a pot of money, being offered a lease has really made all the difference,” Powers said.

Thus far the store also has been well-received.