AltaSea: The Beacon - Solar Stars!

A Fundraising Effort Focused on Solar Panel Array Atop an Historic Rooftop –

AltaSea, Lundquists Launch The Solar Star Initiative

Donors can name a solar star, constellation or galaxy and have their donations matched to help support AltaSea’s renewable energy solutions for our future.

AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles and philanthropists Melanie and Richard Lundquist are pleased to announce a new effort that will kick off their end of year fundraising campaign. The Solar Star Initiative will focus on AltaSea’s 4,753-panel solar installation that will cover their 4-acre rooftop. Each panel will represent a star that will appear on an artist-designed map of the evening sky located at the main entrance of the Center of Innovation for the next 10 years. Donors can name a “star,” “constellation,” or “galaxy” as part of the Solar Star Initiative, and all donations up to $500,000 will be matched by the Lundquists.

The 2.2-megawatt (MW) solar energy array planned atop AltaSea’s 180,000 square foot ocean research and development facility will be the nation’s largest solar powered research and development facility focused on ocean conservation and the second-largest solar installation at a U.S. Port, capable of powering 700 homes annually for 40 years.

“The Solar Stars are the gift that keeps on giving – the panels will generate clean, renewable energy for AltaSea,” said Dr. Melanie Lundquist, who joined the AltaSea Board of Trustees earlier this year. “An additional and important benefit is that the solar panel array will create an additional revenue stream for AltaSea into perpetuity. Each donation keeps on giving. Richard and I will match these donations up to $500,000.”

The new solar array represents a tangible investment in renewable energy and serves as a model for how to responsibly harness the planet’s energy resources.

“A sustainable future depends on energy from above-ground sources, not polluting, finite resources that should stay buried beneath the ground,” said AltaSea President & CEO Terry Tamminen. “Wind, solar, wave, biomass, and other clean, renewable, and unlimited forms of energy are among the greatest gifts of nature. We now have the practical, affordable technology to make the most of it.”

Among the uses that will be powered by the 4-acre AltaSea solar array includes famed oceanographer and explorer Dr. Robert Ballard’s planned 10,000-square-foot interactive research center. Additionally, Ballard, who recently released his book Into the Deep: A Memoir From the Man Who Found Titanic, also docks his Exploration Vessel Nautilus at AltaSea. Ballard is best known for his historic discoveries of hydrothermal vents, the sunken R.M.S. Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and many other shipwrecks around the world.

Completion of the 180,000 sf solar array is anticipated by January 2023.

For more information and details on how to purchase a Solar Star, please contact: Robin Aube at raube@altasea.org.