University Solar Capacity Rose 450% in 3 Years

by | Oct 7, 2011

This article is included in these additional categories:

Installed solar capacity in the higher education sector has grown 450 percent over the last three years , according to research by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

AASHE has compiled a database that details hundreds of campus solar photovoltaic installations.

There is currently 137 MW of solar capacity installed on U.S. higher education campuses. Since 2009, the median project size has grown six fold, the database shows.

Data shows a 40 percent drop in the installed cost of campus solar over the last four years. The market in 2010 for on-campus solar installations was over $300 million in the U.S., according to the database.

In other solar news, SunDurance Energy, Kyocera Solar and Solaire Generation, have completed a 300 kW photovoltaic system for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in downtown Dallas.

SunDurance’s design uses 1,250 Kyocera KD240 240-watt multi-crystalline solar modules, mounted on Solaire Generation’s Solairis solar carports. The carports cover 116 parking spaces at the hospital.

KDC Solar LLC has teamed up with SunDurance and Middlesex County, N.J., to design, install, own and operate a 6.7 MW ground mounted solar installation at the Middlesex Apple Orchard Complex in North Brunswick Township, N.J.

The solar facility will generate around 8,450,000 KWh of solar electricity per year and supply 100 percent of the electricity for facilities on site.

In 2008, SunDurance installed a 1.4 MW solar farm at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.

Finally, Phoenix-based company Republic Services Inc. has built what it says is the world’s largest solar energy landfill cap on a now-closed landfill near Atlanta.

The flexible solar cover technology will generate 1 MW of electricity and meet the needs of 224 homes, Republic says.

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This