A warehouse renovation project set for the historic Pearl Brewery site will also be a "learning laboratory" for "green" building and energy efficiency, featuring the largest solar energy installation in the state, announced CPS Energy and Silver Ventures, which is renovating the historic brewery in an adaptive re-use project.

The $1.35 million solar energy joint project will install a 200-kilowatt array of solar panels atop a 67,000 square-foot former warehouse facility being adapted for office, retail and residential use. The project will generate about one-fourth of the building's total energy needs, and will enable CPS Energy to test the viability of a solar energy application in a large, real-world commercial application, said Milton Lee, general manager of CPS Energy, San Antonio's city-owned power utility.

"Our goal is to achieve renewable energy capacity equal to 15 percent of our customers' peak electrical demand by 2020, and we're now above 11 percent and one of only a handful of utility systems across the country that has surpassed the double-digit percentage mark," Lee said.

The project will also feature an educational venue for students and visitors to showcase the workings and benefits of solar power to visitors, including state-of-the art metering devices that monitor energy use and display real-time information about the amount of solar energy being generated.

Known as the Full Goods Building, the Pearl Brewery Project will be one of the first LEED certified buildings in San Antonio.

The historic Pearl Brewery, a San Antonio landmark in operation from 1883 until 2001, is located on 22 acres alongside the San Antonio River north of downtown. The Pearl complex is undergoing a transformation that will create a vibrant village on the river where urban living, great food and events, art, ideas and education all come together.