Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (unaffiliated), recently celebrated the commissioning of solar carports at the Stupack Community Center. But the dedication didn’t happen without some unanticipated fanfare.

Goodman noticed that a demonstration panel handed to him by a contractor was made in Mexico.

“The mayor was upset because he thought the panels were made in Mexico,” explained spokesperson Jace Radke.

"When I saw that, I went nuts. I felt that that was totally unacceptable as far as our sustainability efforts in the United States,” said Goodman at the event. "They promised me that it's all made, assembled here. I'll take them at their word. If I find out differently, I'll personally go up there and rip them off."

The installations were made possible with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, Radke said.

“They used recovery act funds to build these things and you need to use American-made equipment to qualify,” he explained.

However, the issue was resolved within a few minutes, when the contractors assured the mayor that was not the case, and the demonstration piece was of some solar film laying around the warehouse.

The city received more than $1.2 million in Community Development Block Grant Recovery funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for the carports installed at the community center, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum and Fire Station No. 10, according to the mayor’s office.

The city also received a rebate check from NV Energy for more than $400,000 for installing the PV carports. The three projects will produce a combined 250,000 kilowatt-hours of power annually and will provide an estimated $28,000 per year in energy savings for the city.

According to the mayor’s office, the carport projects are part of a 1.8 megawatt solar carport parking plan. When completed, the city’s PV carports will power approximately 260 homes and reduce the city's carbon footprint by more than 2,000 metric tons.

“Sustainability efforts have been a big part, a key initiative, [of the mayor’s goals],” Radke said. He added that a PV array is being installed at the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

And according to a press release, “The solar parking plan, combined with separate renewable energy installations at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, will bring the city to an approximately 15 percent renewable energy standard for all operations by 2011.”

Pictured: Mayor Goodman decided to leave the engine running on his fancy green sports car while he cut the ribbon at the new solar carports. He had somewhere he had to be. Money to be made. It's Vegas, people. Image courtesy of the City of Las Vegas.