U.S. Schools Going Solar

Report finds 1 in 10 of all K-12 schools have gone solar

Kelsey Misbrener, September 15, 2022 (Solar Power World)

“Schools across the country are rapidly switching to solar power to meet their energy needs while gaining significant cost-savings, STEM learning and climate resiliency benefits, according to [Brighter Future: A Study of Solar on K-12 Schools]…Since the start of 2015, the amount of solar installed by U.S. K-12 schools has tripled…[and] over six million students now attend more than 8,400 schools nationwide that utilize solar power.

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The growth of solar energy on schools has reached 1 in 10 (9%) of all K-12 public and private schools in the United States…[N]early half (47%) of the public schools with solar are eligible for the Title 1 Schoolwide Program, which serves a large population of low-income students…Schools with budgets of all sizes are going solar…[with 87% using third-party partnerships that remove the barrier of upfront costs and help schools see immediate energy cost savings…[T]he remainder was purchased and owned directly by schools…

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…[High school students can] begin preparing for employment as solar installers…[which] is expected to become one of the country’s fastest-growing occupations over the next decade…Schools are also combining solar with battery storage to manage their energy consumption from the grid and provide back-up power to their buildings…The top five states for solar capacity at schools — California, New Jersey, Arizona, Massachusetts and Illinois — helped drive national growth…” click here for more

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