CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif., Feb. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Unical Aviation Inc., a leading global aircraft parts supplier that boosted its workforce by nearly 25 percent over the past year, will help fuel that breakneck growth with savings it expects from making an unusual move for its industry: going solar. The company, whose clients include the Boeing Company, most major airlines and the military, hired SolarCity® (Nasdaq:SCTY) to install a sprawling series of solar arrays on its roof that will provide more than one megawatt of generation capacity. Unical expects the solar systems to cut its mushrooming monthly electricity bill by as much as 80 percent.

"We went solar first and foremost for environmental reasons," says Unical executive vice president Leonardus Karsana. "But financially, it was a no brainer. Our electricity bill rises every year and we're consuming much more electricity because we're growing so rapidly. We hired 70 people over the past year and now have a total of 370 employees. We also opened a new MRO, maintenance, repair and overhaul division, which requires the purchase of a lot of machinery and is consuming a lot of electricity."

Unical expects to save $200,000 on utility costs in the first year alone, and millions more over the solar power system's lifetime. "Everyone is going to switch to solar, especially in sun-drenched states," Karsana said. "It's just a matter of time."

Environmentally, the new solar array will prevent more than 27 million pounds of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere over its lifetime, which is equivalent to planting about 1 million trees or taking more than 2,300 gasoline-powered cars off the road.*

SolarCity, a leading national solar provider, designed and installed Unical's solar system.

"One day, the roof of every industrial warehouse across the Southland will gleam with solar panels generating electricity from the most affordable source in the world—the sun," said Jim Cahill, SolarCity's regional vice president for Southern California. "Innovators like Unical Aviation are leading the way to that inevitable future, which will bring economic and environmental benefits that our state and nation still so sorely need."

SolarCity also offers businesses and homeowners alike the chance to reduce their electricity bills by paying less for clean, renewable solar electricity than they pay to their utilities. Those interested in SolarCity's services can contact the company directly at 1-888-SOL-CITY (1-888-765-2489) for a free, no-obligation solar consultation or visit SolarCity online at www.solarcity.com/request. Candidates interested in employment opportunities can contact SolarCity via its online jobs form at www.solarcity.com/jobs.

* Environmental benefit statistics based on 20 year contract lifetime and data from the Environmental Protection Agency.

This release contains forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements regarding expected savings, expected electricity offsets and assumptions relating to the foregoing. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved, if at all. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward looking statements. You should read the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our registration statement on Form S-1, which has been filed on June 18, 2013 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which identifies certain of these and additional risks and uncertainties. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

About SolarCity

SolarCity® (Nasdaq:SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company offers solar power, energy efficiency and electric vehicle services, and makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 14 states and signs a new customer every five minutes. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.

About Unical

Unical Aviation was founded in 1990 with a guiding philosophy of delivering "performance that speaks for itself." Its expertise spans the entire spectrum of the aviation spares supply chain across airlines, maintenance, engineering, logistics and supply. Our core competencies are providing aircraft and engine parts for daily and heavy maintenance checks, component repair management, structural parts and equipment. In addition, we have the capability to support total care services for consumable, expendables and component power by the hour programs. Our clients include most major airlines such as America Airlines, United Airlines, Air France, British Airways, Royal Dutch KLM, China Airlines, EVA Air, Japan Airlines, ANA Airways and Singapore Airlines, The Boeing Co., Delta Tech Ops, Lufthansa Technik, FedEx and United Parcel Services and the U.S. military.