Elizabethtown College has received a $500,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) to build what the school says is the largest solar array at an educational facility in the state.
The 2.6 MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system will be built in partnership with Community Energy. The array will supply more than 20 percent of the school’s electricity needs. The array will be on a 10-acre site owned by Elizabethtown in Mount Joy Township. Community Energy will own and operate the facility, which will generate 3 million kWh annually, which is enough to power 300 homes. Namasté Solar and Advanced Solar Industries will build the array, which will begin operations during the winter.
Not all college solar projects progress this smoothly. In Walnut, CA, the Mount San Antonio College board agreed to move the ground level panels of a solar project a greater distance from homes, according to The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. This will allow the design and, beginning this fall, construction – at least from the college’s point of view. The project, which is being done in cooperation with Borrego Solar Systems, still faces environmental and legal challenges.
