As part of its effort to be carbon neutral by 2016, a California school installed photovoltaic solar panels last month, according to published reports.

Santa Clara University's 1 megawatt system was installed in October on the roofs of the event center, the recreation center and the parking garage and it helps shave extra costs incurred during peak periods, such as the summer. It also will help with big spikes in use, which also typically occur during the summer.

The Jesuit school in the Silicon Valley already has received its first bill since installing the panels, but they have not figured out how much they've saved.

Santa Clara University already has a 50 kilowatt solar system atop its administrative building. The system will eliminate 23,000 tons of carbon dioxide, roughly comparable to not burning as much as 2.4 million gallons of gasoline.

As part of its effort to generate net-zero carbon within five years, Santa Clara University also intends to invest in additional methods of generating renewable energy as the investment in solar panels was within a manageable range.