Distributed Energy

Lehigh University Welcomes Completion of 3.1-MW Solar on Goodman Campus

Nov. 4, 2024

The system is estimated to generate approximately 5,108 MWh of clean energy each year, reducing 8 percent of the university’s total grid electricity consumption

EnergyTech Staff

Aerial view of Goodman campus. Image credit Lehigh University website

Standard Solar has completed a 3.1 MW-DC solar project on Lehigh University’s (Lehigh) Goodman Campus in Pennsylvania, as part of the university’s efforts to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2040.

The project, acquired by Standard Solar after being initially developed by EDF Renewables, was constructed and completed in collaboration with EDF Renewables as the EPC provider. The project’s long-term owner and operator will be Standard Solar.

The system is estimated to generate approximately 5,108 MWh of clean energy each year, supplying more than 100 percent of the Goodman Campus’s electrical power requirements and reducing 8 percent of the university’s total grid electricity consumption.

“This solar installation is a critical step in our Pathway to Zero as outlined in our Climate Action Strategy,” said Joseph J. Helble, Lehigh’s President. “By investing in on-site renewable energy, we are not only reducing emissions but also providing valuable learning opportunities for our students."

The single-axis tracker array near the university’s athletic fields will also offer research and learning opportunities for Lehigh students. Students, faculty and the public will be able to track real-time energy production and analyze the system’s performance through a solar dashboard.

Lehigh University is the sole off-taker of the energy produced through a power purchase agreement with Standard Solar. The installation also includes a specifically landscape surrounding the array, integrating it into the campus environment and preserving the area’s natural beauty.

Other U.S. schools which have or having solar installed on-campus include Grinnell College in Iowa, Catholic University of America, Rutgers University, Bucknell and Johns Hopkins University, among others.

See EnergyTech’s full coverage of campus decarbonization projects.

About the Author

EnergyTech Staff

Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

He can be reached at [email protected].

EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.