The project required no upfront investment by the district and is expected to save upwards of $520,000 within the first year of operation alone, with $35 million in savings over the next 25 years by providing affordable power at a discount to utility rates, according to a statement by SolarCity, the San Mateo, Calif.-headquartered renewable electricity firm that completed the project.

“Like many school districts across the county, Temecula Valley has faced increasing budget cuts and rising operational expenses,” said Janet Dixon, director of facilities development at Temecula Valley Unified School District, in a statement. “With SolarCity, we found a creative way to cut our electricity bills. This money will free up funds for the district to invest in student programs and curriculum.”

Altogether, the project includes 18 solar carports and two ground-mount solar arrays. The carports will incorporate SolarCity’s ZS Beam technology, while five of the sites will also be equipped with DemandLogic, the company’s smart energy storage system. The systems will provide approximately 2,600-kilowatt hours of energy storage capacity that can later be intelligently dispatched during times of highest demand. In turn, the school district will reduce energy costs by using stored electricity to lower peak demand, further contributing to its overall cost savings.

With all elements combined, the system is expected to prevent more than 96,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere over its lifetime; the equivalent to taking more than 20,000 cars off the road for a year. In addition, because solar power production requires virtually no water, the system is expected to avoid the use of more than 4 billion gallons of water.

A Power Purchase Agreement with SolarCity will allow the district to only pay for the power the systems produce at a fixed rate that is less than what is currently offered by the local utility company, according to a statement by SolarCity. The district also retained independent energy consulting firm Sage Renewable Energy Consulting Inc. of Inverness, Calif., to help assess project feasibility and determine cost-effective, energy-optimizing designs for each site. The consultants helped to solicit and organize proposals for the projects and select the best candidate to meet the district’s specifications and goals, according to a statement by SolarCity.

Beyond simply providing energy cost savings, the project also promises to provide an opportunity for students to learn about solar energy and storage. The project will offer students access to a solar production monitoring system, allowing them to see exactly how much energy the schools’ photovoltaic panels are producing on an hourly, daily, monthly and yearly basis, according to a statement by SolarCity.

For more information on the project visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUp5aL9JrHA

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“We believe this one megawatt installation will be the largest such undertaking by any higher education institution in the state of North Carolina,” said Catawba President Brien Lewis in a statement, “It will yield significant long-term benefits for the college.”

Innovative Design of Raleigh, N.C. is leading the project, while Sundance Power Systems of Weaverville, N.C. is serving as its solar developer.

The $5.2 million project will include the installation of numerous photovoltaic panels, as well as roof work on several buildings and the replacement of outdated, inefficient plumbing fixtures. These combined efforts are projected to save the private, 1,300-student college 11 percent on energy costs and 26 percent on water costs annually when compared with pre-installation and renovation figures. The capacity of the solar installations, located on eight buildings and a covered parking area, will rank as the second largest campus installation of solar energy in the southeast.

“Catawba College’s systems…will produce more solar-generated electricity than all other North Carolina colleges and universities combined,” said Mike Nicklas, president Innovative Design and the college’s consultant for the 2030 Green Step Initiative, in a statement. “The combination of those efforts over the next 20 years will save the college close to $5 million.”

While a large portion of the project will be funded through donations, the remainder is being supported by investors who are able to realize substantial tax credits for solar energy and who will, once the tax credits expire in a few years, donate the systems to the college, according to a statement by Catawba College.

Catawba is also a signatory of the American Colleges & Universities Presidents’ Climate Commitment of 2007.

“My hope is that our aggressive efforts to reduce energy consumption from non-renewable energy by 12 percent will serve as a wonderful example to others,” Lewis said in a statement. “The 2030 Green Step Initiative not only contributes to addressing climate change but it will yield significant financial and educational benefits for the College for decades to come. We are saying to our students and to those in our community that we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk.”

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