Since 2014, photo voltaic capability at Okay-12 colleges has greater than quadrupled throughout the US, in line with a brand new report from clear vitality nonprofit Generation180.
The “Brighter Future: A Research of Photo voltaic on Okay-12 Faculties” report highlights that over 6.2 million college students – greater than 1 in 9 – now attend colleges powered by photo voltaic. In 2023 alone, greater than 800 colleges added photo voltaic panels, which means that at the least one college went photo voltaic each single day in the course of the 2022-23 college 12 months.
“The advantages of photo voltaic vitality at the moment are reaching a broad vary of colleges throughout the nation, together with these in under-resourced communities that stand to achieve probably the most from the associated fee financial savings and academic alternatives that photo voltaic expertise offers. We wish all colleges and communities, no matter their dimension, geography, or wealth, to have entry to reasonably priced, clear vitality,” says Tish Tablan, the report’s lead writer and senior director of Generation180’s Electrify Our Faculties Program.
Most of those colleges are funding their photo voltaic tasks via third-party possession fashions, making it simpler to bypass the hurdle of upfront prices. The Inflation Discount Act has additionally made it extra reasonably priced for colleges to deploy clear vitality by providing tax credit, paid as money reimbursements, for panels, battery storage, and different clear applied sciences.
Some standout findings from the “Brighter Future” report embody:
- Okay-12 colleges throughout the nation now generate 1,814 megawatts (MW) of solar energy – sufficient to energy over 330,000 households or all the metropolis of Denver.
- The highest states main the cost in class photo voltaic capability are California, New Jersey, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
- States like Minnesota, Maryland, and Pennsylvania are innovating with state-funded grants to assist colleges undertake solar energy.
Past simply slicing vitality payments, colleges with photo voltaic are investing financial savings again into college students and communities. For instance, Wayne County Public Faculties in West Virginia, a area traditionally depending on coal, plans to put in 10,000 photo voltaic panels throughout all its colleges by 2025. They’re additionally providing apprenticeships to highschool college students, giving them hands-on expertise in putting in photo voltaic panels on their very own campuses.
Pairing photo voltaic with battery storage is one other development that helps colleges increase local weather resilience. Round 40 colleges in six states have added battery storage to handle their vitality use and supply backup energy. California, with its long-running storage incentive program, leads the best way, with 75% of those battery tasks.
Faculties are additionally becoming a member of group photo voltaic tasks that stretch advantages past their campuses. In Denver, as an example, photo voltaic canopies at colleges should not solely powering the buildings but in addition offering reasonably priced, clear electrical energy to low-income households within the space. This collaboration between the Metropolis of Denver and Denver Public Faculties is at the moment serving to 44 native households save an estimated 64% on their family electrical energy payments.
“Whereas it’s thrilling to see the expansion in photo voltaic adoption, too many colleges are nonetheless lacking out on the numerous advantages that photo voltaic vitality brings to college students, communities, and the local weather. We hope this report will encourage extra colleges to discover what’s attainable of their districts and be part of the clear vitality motion,” says Stuart Gardner, government director of Generation180.
Learn extra: Oakland is now first within the US to deploy a 100% electrical college bus fleet – and it’s V2G
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