Taco Bell's First All Solar-Powered Restaurant To Open In Moreno Valley

MORENO VALLEY (CBS) — Fast food restaurants in the Inland Empire are tapping into solar power to save money on their super-sized energy bills.

A Taco Bell now under construction in Moreno Valley will be the first in the restaurant's chain to be all solar-powered, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

A 200-foot long roof is being constructed over its entire drive-through line and will be covered with 155 solar panels, possibly the first of its kind, owner Grover Moss told the newspaper.

The restaurant's final structural plans to the city still have to be approved by the city, but Moss hopes to open the 3,000-square-foot restaurant this month.

Moss reportedly owns 11 other Taco Bells in Riverside County and says his energy bills range from $3,000 to $6,000 a month per store. Despite the high initial cost of the store's construction at $1 million, Moss told the Press-Enterprise he expects to save up to 70 percent on energy bills.

Moss's solar-powered Taco Bell is not the first solar-powered restaurant in the area. A McDonald's in Riverside was the first in the county to cover its shaded carport with solar panels in October 2010.