Solar on Connecticut Schools: Why Not on Yours?

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Solar on Connecticut Schools Why not on yours?

The purpose of this report is to encourage you, as a member of a school board, school administrator, or member of the public, to consider putting solar on (or next to) your school. Schools with solar save money on their electric bills, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and provide an onsite educational opportunity for their students.

As Connecticut looks to meet its ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, solar energy has played a significant and rapidly growing role. Across the state, schools have shown clear leadership. At last count, over 100 schools have installed sizeable solar arrays on their rooftops, parking lots and land. Yet, these 100 schools represent less than 10% of the schools in the state, so the potential for further installations of clean energy is immense Nayaug Elementary, Glastonbury, CT

With their typically substantial flat roofs, large parking lots and high electricity demand, schools are excellent candidates for solar installations. As the cost of solar panels and their installation plummets, schools have been able to reduce their electricity bills, shifting funds to their primary purpose: educating our youth. In fact, school solar arrays invariably work their way into the school curriculum, providing a powerful, tangible educational tool.

Other CT Schools as a Resource Our report includes a list of over 100 Connecticut schools with solar arrays larger than 60 kW. In total, these arrays represent a combined installed capacity of over 17 megawatts, capable of producing over 20 million kWh per year. We created the list to help you find schools that have already installed solar. Such schools can be resources as you consider solar for your own school. For convenience, the list is presented in two ways, first in order of size of array and second, alphabetically by town.

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To create the list, we combined information from several sources: a list provided by the Green Bank, a 2017 list from The Solar Foundation, plus some additional arrays identified by other means. Although we have endeavored to identify all such installations, it is likely that some have been unintentionally omitted. We welcome input from readers about additional arrays to add to the list. As the graph below indicates, schools have been installing solar King/Robinson Magnet School, New Haven, CT arrays steadily, and at an increasing rate, since 2007 (i.e., the start of available data).

Cumulative Solar Installed on CT Schools 20,000 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 Kilowats 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Year Installed

Progress and Potential The number of schools shown here demonstrates that many Connecticut school boards and administrators have looked at solar as a source of electricity and decided it was in their school’s best interest to proceed. At least twelve districts put solar on one school and then felt favorably enough about their experience to do it again. Nine other districts went for multiple installations right from the start. Once a school district does the research, it often decides that solar is worth installing on more than one building.

Many more districts can and should put solar on their roofs, over their parking lots, or next to their schools. One hundred is a large number of schools, but we still have a long way

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to go. According to a 2016 report, Connecticut Education and Schools, there are 1,174 public schools in Connecticut, so 100 schools represents just 8.5% of the total. We estimate that public schools alone have the potential for over 230 megawatts of installed capacity, versus 20 megawatts achieved to date. Moreover, since the cost of solar panels and installation has been declining steadily, it’s safe to say that a school deciding to install solar this year will pay less than any of the schools on this list (not counting state and federal incentives). As the graph below suggests, Connecticut schools have only begun to tap the potential of solar.

Cumulative Solar Installed on CT Schools 250,000 Potential Actual 200,000

150,000

100,000 Kilowats

50,000

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Potential Year Installed

How to Get a Solar Project Done Schools and municipalities are typically experienced in the practice of soliciting proposals and completing procurements from a wide range of vendors (e.g., building construction and upgrades, school buses). Because the solar industry is well- established in Connecticut, solar projects are no more complex than many of the projects schools are accustomed to doing and are simpler than many such projects. Moreover, because the economics of solar projects have become generally favorable, it is not difficult to find multiple vendors willing to provide proposals

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for any given project. In addition, there are a number of consultants with experience in solar projects willing to assist schools through this process. Here are a few considerations for a school district considering solar: 1. A good first step is to identify which schools in town are suitable for solar and what the potential installed capacity is. Solar contractors are skilled at preparing detailed estimates of the potential of a school roof, parking lot and available land. We recommend having several different vendors conduct this initial survey.

2. Integral to the process of considering solar should be assessing opportunities for using less energy. As the saying goes, “Reduce then

Reed Intermediate School, Newtown, CT produce”. Adding insulation, improving windows, upgrading HVAC components to make them more efficient, and switching to LED bulbs are some obvious steps to study. The Green Bank and your local utility may have programs that facilitate this process. Typically, HVAC vendors are excellent sources of information on these incentive programs. After you have the results of an energy assessment, consider using the standards found in The Collaborative for High Performance Schools initiative. 3. Know the difference between a power purchase agreement (PPA) and owning your system. With a PPA, the Green Bank or another entity owns the system, can take advantage of tax incentive not directly available to a school district, and passes on the value of those incentives in the rates rate they charge the school for the output of the solar array. The owning entity also will take care of construction, monitoring, and maintenance of the system. If a school district chooses to own the system, the district will have more responsibilities, but may save more on the cost of electricity.

4. If a district decides to own its system, the district should hire a consultant who has experience specifically with school solar projects. A solar consultant without school

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experience may not be familiar with the special issues of grants, bonding, legal considerations, construction and construction management when a public school is involved. The next step is to prioritize your school solar projects, select the one(s) you want to carry out and solicit multiple proposals for each. A few suggestions for this process: • Get a mix of quotes, if possible from both smaller and larger companies. • Checking references is essential and talk to other towns who have done projects. (We can help to put you in touch.) • Service is important; the lowest bidder may not be the best. • Compare several equipment options (e.g., different panels, inverters) For a detailed How-To guide for schools that want to go solar, download The Solar Foundation’s November 2017 report, Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools (see page 34).

Conard High School, West Hartford, CT

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Notes on the solar project list 1. We have provided satellite photos from Google Maps of solar arrays when available, but some systems installed since 2015 are too recent to appear. Some recent installations have no image in Google Maps, but do show up in Google Earth. 2. The list is provided in two forms below: A. sorted by size of array (in kilowatts) and B. sorted alphabetically by town. If you would like the tables in Excel or Word, just let us know. We were interested in significant solar installations and so somewhat arbitrarily included only schools with at least a 60 kw array. You can find systems as small as 1 kw in the Green Bank and Solar Foundation lists. 3. We have attached the Green Bank spreadsheet and you can download the entire Solar Foundation list by clicking here and then going to the ‘Download the Complete Dataset’ option. These lists of Connecticut schools are similar, but not identical, and they each provide more information about individual schools than we have, such as the name of the contractor and financial data. 4. Multiple schools are sometimes condensed into a single row. This can be because the information about individual schools was not available or that a town’s schools are being credited with the output of a remote solar array via virtual net metering (VNM), for example in Stafford. VNM affects the list in another way. If a town has no solar panels on a school, but the school is being credited with the output of a remote solar array, then the school does not appear on the list. About 25 towns in CT participate in the VNM program. Identifying schools that fall into this category, such as two schools in Woodstock, will have to wait for another study.

If you have more information or corrections for any school, or additional installations to add, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Peter Millman ([email protected]) Bernie Pelletier ([email protected]) Mark Scully ([email protected])

July 2018

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A.Schools sorted by size of array (kW)

Town Project Name Date Com- kW Comments/Links pleted

Stafford High School and Middle 2016 2600 Stafford High School, Satellite Photo School Stafford Middle School and adjoining solar array, Satellite Photo Article - Town of Stafford to Install Three Large Solar Electric Arrays Article - Stafford High School Installs Large Solar Energy System Stafford’s Energy Advisory Committee played a major role in the project that resulted in the town’s facilities, including schools, being pow- ered by close to 100% renewable energy. Leonard Clark, [email protected], and Gary Fisher, [email protected], were active members of the committee.

Bloomfield Carmen Arace Middle 2017 1000 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth. School* Article - Solar panels to save Bloomfield school $1.1M Article-Connecticut School Cuts Costs With Rooftop Solar Article - Major Solar Installation Completed Article-Kingspan Energy completes 1-MW solar project at Connecti- cut school

Orange Town of Orange Schools 2016 616 Substantial arrays on three schools, Racebrook, Turkey Hill and Peck Place. Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

Newtown Reed School 2017 606 Reed Intermediate School Satellite Photo The long-term savings to Newtown are projected to be over $1.6 million over the 25-year term of the PPA.

East Lyme East Lyme High School 2009 481 East Lyme High School, Satellite Photo Articles - EAST LYME SOLAR PROJECT

Coventry Coventry Board of Ed 2014 463 Nathan Hale Middle School, Satellite Photo Multi-Site

Winchester Northwestern Regional 2009 446 Northwestern Regional High School, Satellite Photo School District #7 (Win- sted)

Winsted Northwestern Regional 2010 446 Northwestern Regional High Satellite Photo High

Hamden Hamden High School 2008 400 On GB and TSF lists, but no visible panels. Probably never installed

Naugatuck Naugatuck High School 2009 385 Naugatuck High School, Satellite Photo

Kent Kent School 2015 382 Magowan Field House Satellite Photo

New Fairfield New Fairfield Meeting 2016 370 Article-New Fairfield Schools introduce solar power House Hill School

West Hartford Conard High School 2016 357 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

New Haven James Hillhouse High 2013 344 New Haven James Hillhouse Satellite Photo School

Ellington Ellington High School 2016 313 Ellington High School Satellite Photo

Easton Samuel Staples School 2015 302 Samuel Staples School, Satellite Photo Ground Mounted

Wallingford Choate Rosemary Hall 2012 296 Choate Rosemary Hall Satellite Photo

Harwinton Regional School District 2016 280 Regional School District 10, Satellite Photo 10

New Britain New Britain High School 2008 275 New Britain High School, Satellite Photo

Deep River Region 4 School District 2015 260 Valley Regional High School, Region 4, Satellite Photo

Glastonbury High School 2013 250 http://www.glastonburyus.org/solar Glastonbury High School, Satellite Photo

Greenwich Country Day School 250 Country Day School, Satellite Photo

Woodbridge Beecher School 2016 248 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

West Hartford Aiken Elementary 2017 238 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth School

Avon Avon High School 2015 235 Avon High School, Satellite Photo Article - PZC OKs Solar Panels at two schools Article - Avon Officials Celebrate Solar Panel Installations From the Chairman of the Avon Clean Energy Commission: Avon did solar PV on 2 schools and the maintenance facility. Solar City was the installer/ owner- operator of the systems and has a PPA with the town that is saving us on electric costs each year. If you need additional details please contact Grace Tiezzi , the Assistant Town Man- ager. We put out a full RFP and received a number of excellent proposals from solar PV developers several years ago. The systems have been operating well for about 2 years

Bridgeport Discovery Magnet 2011 230 Discovery Magnet School, Satellite Photo School

Bridgeport Barnum School 2014 229 Barnum School Satellite Photo

Bridgeport Batalla School 2014 218 Batalla School, Satellite Photo

Voluntown Voluntown Elementary 2015 217 Voluntown Elementary School, Satellite Photo School Ground mounted

East Hartford East Hartford High 2012? 207 Article - East Hartford Solar Projects Approved By CL&P School (Esti- mated) East Hartford High School Satellite Photo Note: solar carports

Washington Rumsey Hall School, 2010 207 On GB and TSF lists, but no visible panels. Probably never installed Depot Inc.

Ansonia Ansonia High School 2011 199 Ansonia High School, Satellite Photo Article - Ansonia High School Solar Panels Installation Starts

Centerbrook Essex Elementary 2016 199 Essex Elementary, Satellite Photo

Windsor John F. Kennedy High 2013 197 John F. Kennedy High School Satellite Photo School

Fairfield Dwight School 2016 187 Dwight Elementary, Satellite Photo

Cromwell Edna C. Stevens Ele- 2010 184 Edna C. Stevens Elementary School, Satellite Photo mentary School (Crom- well)

Hamden Middle School 2014 184 Hamden Middle School, Satellite Photo Article - Middle School Solar Panels Dedicated

Newington Martin Kellogg Middle 2009 181 Martin Kellogg Middle School, Satellite Photo School (Newington)

Pomfret Pomfret Community 2011 181 best contact for performance/savings is Gary Brock (head of Mainte- School nance), [email protected]. Pomfret Community School Satellite Photo Pomfret Community School Gets Solar Panels

Newtown Newtown Middle School pending 179 Newtown Middle School, Satellite Photo Article - Sunlight Will Lighten Electric Bill at Newtown Middle School

Glastonbury Hebron Elementary 2013 175 Hebron Avenue Elementary School, Satellite Photo

Plainville Plainville High School 2008 173 Plainville High School, Satellite Photo

Hebron RHAM High School 2014 172 Hebron has gone through at least one benchmarking process and has implemented various energy saving projects throughout the town, including the schools. The persons to contact are the town manager, Andy Tierney, and the RHAM high school principal, Scott Leslie. RHAM High School Satellite Photo

Griswold Griswold Elementary 2013 171 Griswold Elementary School Satellite Photo School

Lebanon Lebanon Middle School pending 170 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo

Somers Somers Elementary 2012 169 Somers Elementary School, Satellite Photo School Article - Somers to Use More Solar Energy

New Haven Wilbur Cross High 2013 168 Wilbur Cross High School Satellite Photo School

Cromwell Cromwell Middle School 2011 166 Cromwell Middle School, Satellite Photo

Middlebury Westover School, Inc. 2010 164 Westover School, Satellite Photo (Middlebury)

Avon Avon Middle School 2015 163 Avon Middle School, Satellite Photo

Lebanon Lebanon Elementary pending 158 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo School

New Britain Smalley Academy 2014 156 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

New Britain Smith School 2014 154 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

New Britain Diloreto Magnet School 2015 153 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

Shelton Long Hill School 2016 153 Long Hill School, Satellite Photo

Windsor Oliver Ellsworth School 2014 150 Oliver Ellsworth School Satellite Photo

Stamford Rippowam Middle 2009 144 Rippowam Middle School, Satellite Photo School (Stamford)

Ridgefield Farmingville School 2016 138 Farmingville School, Satellite Photo

Danbury Immaculate High School 2017 137 Immaculate High School, Satellite Photo

Glastonbury Nayaug Elementary 2014 137 Nayaug Elementary School, Satellite Photo

Danbury Park Ave. School (Dan- 2012 135 Park Avenue School, Satellite Photo bury)

Windham Windham Middle School 2016 132 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

Plainville Linden School (Plain- 2009 131 Linden School, Satellite Photo ville)

Hampton Hampton Elementary 2015 128 https://www.facebook.com/HamptonElementarySchool/ (Photo) School Hampton Satellite Photo Article - Hampton High, Deer Park Elementary to Get Solar Panels

New Haven King/Robinson Magnet 2013 128 New Haven King-Robinson School Satellite Photo School

Middlefield/ John Lyman elementary 2011 120 John Lyman Elementary School, Satellite Photo Durham and Memorial Middle Memorial Middle School, Satellite Photo Schools (Region 13) Article - Solar Panels Now Running at Two District 13 Schools

Falls Village Region 1 - Housatonic 2017 115 Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Satellite Photo Valley Regional High School

Bloomfield Metropolitan Learning 2012 108 Metropolitan Learning Center, Satellite Photo Center

Deep River John Winthrop Middle 2011 108 John Winthrop Middle School Satellite Photo School (Deep River)

Newington John Wallace Middle 2013 108 John Wallace Middle School, Satellite Photo School

Fairfield Fairfield Riverfield 2016 105 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth School

Hebron Gilead Hill School 2011 102 Gilead School Satellite Photo Gilead Hill School article

Kent (S. Kent) South Kent School 2014 102 South Kent School Satellite Photo

Clinton Jared Eliot Middle 2015 100 Jared Eliot Middle School, Satellite Photo School

Clinton Lewin G Joel School 2015 100 Lewin G. Joel School, Satellite Photo Article - Joel and Eliot Schools Celebrate Completion of Solar Arrays

East Haddam Franklin Academy 2013 100 Franklin Academy, Satellite Photo Also in East Haddam there is a new array that Shagbark Lumber installed, which will provide power to all 3 schools in town. Article - Shagbark Lumber, Farm Supplies lights up East Haddam school district

Greenwich Glenville School 2016? 98 Glenville School, Satellite Photo Information - Greenwich Country Day School Project Article - Greenwich School Plans Solar Energy Project

Bridgeport Geraldine Johnson 2014 96 On GB and TSF lists, but no visible panels. Probably never installed School

West Hartford Bristow Middle School 2009 95 Bristow and Oxford Schools Satellite Photo (West Hartford) Weblinks to Town Projects

East Haven Joseph Melillo Middle 2011 94 Joseph Melillo Middle School, Satellite Photo School (East Haven)

Farmington Miss Porter's School pending 94 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo

Bridgeport Florence E. Blackham 2013 90 Blackham Elementary School, Satellite Photo Elementary

Middletown Moody Elementary 2010 88 Moody Elementary School Satellite Photo School (Middletown)

Shelton Perry Hill Upper Elemen- 2015 88 Perry Hill Upper Elementary School tary School

Darien Ox Ridge Elementary 2012? 78 Ox Ridge Elementary, Satellite Photo School (esti- Article - Solar Panel Plan for Darien Schools Moves Ahead mate)

Burlington Lake Garda School 2014 76 Lake Garda School Satellite Photo

Lakeville Region 1 - Salisbury pending 76 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo Central School

Oxford Great Oak Middle 2010 75 Great Oak Middle School Satellite Photo School (Oxford)

Waterbury Gilmartin School 2010 75 Gilmartin School, Satellite Photo

Stonington Wrights/Pine Point 2007 73 Between 5/15 and 4/16, solar panels were removed (see Google Earth images) Wrights/Pine Point School Satellite Photo

New Haven Barnard Environmental 2007 72 Barnard Environmental Magnet School, Satellite Photo Magnet School (New Article - Barnard Goes Solar Haven)

Waterbury Chase Collegiate School 2008 65 Chase Collegiate School, Satellite Photo (Upper School Bldg.) YouTube video of installation (Waterbury)

New Haven Common Ground pending 64 Too recent for Google Satellite Photo, visible in Google Earth

Fairfield Warde HS, Ludlowe HS, In Progress Substantial arrays on Warde High School, Ludlowe High School, Tomlinson MS, Fairfield Tomlinson Middle School, and Fairfield Woods Middle School, are Woods MS too recent for Google Satellite Photo, but visible in Google Earth. So- lar carports at some schools. Article - Six Fairfield Schools Unveil Solar Panel Displays Article - Carports could double high schools’ solar power use Article-Fairfield Public Schools Offers Details About Solar Carport Project Being Considered Article - As I See It: The Sun Also Rises on Fairfield’s High Schools

Milford Joseph A. Foran and 2017 (in Mostly too recent for Google Satellite Photo Jonathan Law high progress?) Article - More city schools going solar schools, East Shore Mid- dle School, and Mathew- Article - Milford School System Making Move to Solar son Elementary School

B.Schools sorted alphabetically by town