SPARKS — Public works planners are waiting for the sunshine to pour down as they plan to expand the city’s solar power programs. Following the installation of solar panels on the Larry D. Johnson Community Center this month, the city is looking to install a similar system at the Sparks Police Department building on Prater Way.

According to Sparks deputy public works director Pete Etchart, the Sparks Police Department is the second largest power-consuming building in the city, second only to the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. The police department consumes about $140,000 in city money for its annual power bill.

“It’s because it is a 24/7 facility,” Etchart said.

The police department project will place solar panels on the shade structures that cover the parking lot of police cars on the south side of the building. The earliest the police would see the panels would be spring 2010, according to Etchart.

Much of the $463,680 project bill would be paid by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Smaller parts of the police department project would be paid for using rebates from NV Energy.

Etchart was unsure what percentage of the police department’s power bill would be taken care of with the new solar power, but said that the project would not give the building a self-sustaining source of power.

In addition to the police department, the city is hoping to put solar panels on its Parks and Recreation Department building on Richards Way, and the fire departments on Vista Boulevard and Disc Drive.

However, these projects need grant money before they can see the sunlight.

“We don’t have funding for all of them yet,” Etchart said. “But we have a plan; we are being pretty aggressive and looking for funding.”

These funds would most likely come in the form of grants, he added.

The eventual solar projects would cut down on the city’s power bill in the long run.

According to city reports, the solar installation on the roof of the Larry D. Johnson center is expected to trim 30 percent from the building’s power needs.

The city’s largest power bill, according to Etchart, comes from the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation facility, which it shares with the city of Reno. The city pays about one-third of the facility’s $2 million annual power, with the city of Reno paying the balance, according to Etchart.