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    New Jersey School District may save 41K tons of CO2 with new Rooftop Solar arrays

    June 30, 2023
    Pfister Energy installed more than 8,600 panels on 7 rooftop solar systems totaling 3.31 MW for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. The installation came at no cost due to a 15-year power purchase agreement with Greenskies Clean Focus
    Image credit Greenskies Clean Focus
    Solar New Jersey Schools 649edd70bbba2

    Greenskies Clean Focus has partnered with New Jersy based Pfister Energy to install more than 8,600 panels on seven rooftop solar systems totaling 3.31 MW for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District.

    “These solar projects provide our District and community with significant cost savings and improve our schools' environmental impact,” said David Aderhold, Superintendent, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. “We are doing our part to educate and model environmentally conscious behaviors for our students while contributing to creating a better world for their future.”

    The New Jersey solar projects are forecasted to offset an estimated 41,250 metric tons of CO2, which is equal to greenhouse gas emissions produced by 9,180 cars or the carbon sequestered by 49,000 acres of the U.S. forests, in the coming 15 years.

    A 15-year solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with Greenskies has helped the school district to install solar at no cost and purchase the electricity generated by the systems at a reduced rate as compared to the traditional utility rates.

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    Pfister Energy is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) solar developer which installed the rooftop panels at the school facilities.

    The agreements are part of the Schneider Electric-developed Energy Savings Improvement Program, which allows West Windsor-Plainsboro to realize over $30 million in school facility improvements through cost savings, financing, and grants/rebates.

    Schneider Electric explained that about 21% of the school's annual electricity use will be balanced by renewable energy produced by the solar arrays, saving about $3,500,000 over the life of the systems. Solar consultant Talva Energy has helped develop the solar PPA RFP.

    “Protecting the District's budget from unpredictable utility rate hikes for the next fifteen years, creates beneficial stability that will benefit students while advancing access to renewable energy and sustainability goals, " said Stanley Chin, President and CEO of Greenskies. 

    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.