MILILANI, Hawai'i, July 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SolarCity (Nasdaq:SCTY) today announced plans to add 12.8 megawatts of new solar generation capacity to provide solar power to up to 7,500 military homes at Lend Lease-managed Island Palm Communities throughout the island of Oahu, including Fort Shafter, Schofield Barracks, Wheeler Army Airfield, Aliamanu Military Reservation, Helemano Military Reservation and Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawai'i. The projects are the latest to be announced under SolarCity's SolarStrong initiative, a five-year plan to build more than $1 billion in solar projects to provide power to up to 120,000 military homes in the United States. SolarCity has now initiated projects that are expected to provide renewable power to approximately 22,000 military homes when completed.
In addition to the work announced today, SolarStrong projects are underway at Fort Bliss in Texas, White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Marine Corps Base Hawai'i and Navy Region Hawai'i, Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Peterson and Schriever Air Force Bases in Colorado.
"Hawai'i is dependent upon petroleum for approximately 75 percent of its energy needs, making the military's further adoption of solar a win for national security as well as the environment," said Aaron Gillmore, SolarCity's vice president of solar development.
In addition to SolarStrong, SolarCity is pursuing a veteran hiring initiative as part of its Workforce Development program. The company currently employs more than 100 veterans in various positions, including IT, sales, managerial, administration, design and installation. SolarCity has partnered with several veteran programs across the country, including Veteran Affairs national offices, JPMorgan Chase & Co's '100,000 Jobs Mission,' Swords to Plowshares, The California National Guard, The California Conservation Corps and Veterans Green Jobs. SolarCity was recently recognized by the Employment Development Department (EDD) and the California Employer Advisory Council (CEAC) for "outstanding service in the employment of veterans" for the year 2013 and also received the "Outstanding Industry Partner Award" from Veterans Green Jobs.
About SolarCity
SolarCity® (Nasdaq:SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company offers solar power, energy efficiency and electric vehicle services, and makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 14 states and signs a new customer every five minutes. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.
This release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding expected generation capacity for the Island Palm Communities project and SolarStrong's five-year targets. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward looking statements. You should read the section entitled "Risk Factors" in SolarCity's registration statement on Form S-1, which has been filed on June 18, 2013 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and identifies certain of these and additional risks and uncertainties. SolarCity does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.