Simon Completes Solar Panel Installation at The Shops at Mission Viejo

Simon Property Group, Inc., the country’s largest owner, developer and manager of high quality retail real estate, has just last month completed the largest solar installation by a mall owner in the U.S. Simon Property Group entered into a power purchase agreement with Element Markets, a Houston-based developer of clean energy, for the output of a 173kW solar facility on the roof of The Shops at Mission Viejo in Mission Viejo, California.

“This is an exciting project that will help us gain valuable experience with solar installations,” said George Caraghiaur, vice president of energy services at Simon. “As the solar industry matures and technological improvements continue to drive down the cost of installations, we expect that solar renewable energy purchases will become a cost-effective component of our sustainability strategy. We chose to partner with Element Markets as they are a leader in the field of renewable energy and carbon management.”

Construction on the solar facility began on December 3rd and was completed in 20 days, on December 23rd. Melissa Palencia, the mall manager at The Shops at Mission Viejo, was impressed with the installation and operation of the new system.

“The installation started during our holiday season and there wasn’t a disruption to normal business for our tenants or customers,” she said. “Now,” Palencia continued, “even on a cloudy, rainy day, our solar panels provide us with up to 130 kilowatts of savings.”

“We are entering a new era for renewable power generation and we are very pleased to partner with Simon to identify renewable opportunities across Simon’s portfolio,” said Randall Lack, managing director of client services for Element Markets. “With advances in technology and the national agenda for non-fossil power generation, Simon is positioning itself in a leadership role to economically participate in renewable generation.”