Solar for WI K-12 Schools: Resource Center
We've collected resources and put together video content with the intent to assist school administrative teams, boards, staff, students, facilities crew, or other school affiliates (“Solar Planning Teams”) throughout all stages in the solar project development process. We present information about the technology, site analysis, project finance, and procurement strategies used to deliver on-site solar. You can use the resources from start to finish or you can select certain section a la carte, based on your school's needs. Email evonne@midwestrenew.org with any questions. Thanks for joining us!Fundamental Resources for a WI School Solar Project
- Dr. Ronald Russ, Superintendent Merton Community School District - Located in Waukesha County, Merton just completed installation of a 389 kW DC PV system in November 2019, which is largely financed through a low-interest loan and is expected to save the district $70,000 in energy costs each year.
- Andy Weiland, Business Administrator, Oregon School District - The district has had several PV systems on various schools for several years, and is now planning to incorporate a solar PV system over 500kW into new construction of a net zero elementary school
- Lee Black, Buildings & Grounds Director, Darlington Community School District - In January 2016, the district completed the installation of a 156 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of their elementary middle school building. The system is expected to generate approximately 200,000 kWh of electricity per year, or about 19% of the entire district’s use, saving them about $12,500 in usage charges and roughly $3,250 in demand charges.
- Merton Community School District (2019) - 389kW DC - installed on both Merton Intermediate and Merton Primary, saving the district $70,000 annually.
- Oregon School District (2020) - 649kW DC on Forest Edge Elementary School, the first net-zero school in WI.
- Madison Area Technical College (2018) - 1.85 MW
- Darlington Elementary/Middle School (2015)- 156 kW
- Northland Pines School District: Elementary, Middle, & High School (2017) - 331 total kW
- NABCEP Certified Installer Locator (website) - online database of professional certified solar installers
- MREA Business Member Directory (website) - list of our business members, searchable by PV installer, among other categories
- Focus on Energy Trade Allies (website) - searchable database of contractors and service providers who partner with Focus to deliver energy efficiency and renewable energy products and expertise to WI residents and businesses.
After understanding general market trends, the first real phase in PV project development is to set your solar planning team up for success. To begin, this module presents a course thread-line, connecting important key points and lessons presented throughout this course to provide your solar planning team an understanding of the bigger PV development picture. We then present key considerations to be entertained early on within the process to increase chances of moving forward with a successful PV project for your school, including educational considerations and how to identify solar motivations and align them with project development.
Topic Shorts
It is important to see how the different steps in developing a PV project are interconnected and build off of one another. This 8 minute video will briefly walk your school through the import take away points and concepts to keep in mind throughout the entirety of this course, pulling a thread-line through topics such as stakeholder scoping, utility tariff rates, net metering, site assessments, economic feasibility, and RFP solicitation and evaluation.
Featuring: Amanda Schienebeck, MREA Program Manager
Often a missed step in solar PV project development is having conversations with your solar planning team and relevant stakeholders about what the varying motivations are for your PV project. To help your solar planning team get started, this 8 minute video will go over many possible motivations and the associated benefits of different investment objectives.
Featuring: Amanda Schienebeck, MREA Program Manager
Video Content Coming Soon
It is vital to take into consideration many aspects of your PV system early on in the planning process in order to maximize the likelihood of a successful campaign as well as to ensure your school is left with an exemplary project. This recorded webinar discusses, at a high level, many of these key considerations including deciding on an ideal system size, what to look for in a reliable system, tapping into incentive and grant programs, procurement methods that meet school district requirements, and developing community support to move ahead.
Featuring:
Amanda Schienebeck, MREA Program ManagerIt is important to consider unique aspects, such as educational component, of PV system design early on in the process. This 30 minute topic video provides, not only an example of a successful solar planning project, but demonstrates how to design education into a PV system early on. Learn the unique aspects of Madison College's PV system design, what educational-related considerations the school integrated into their system design, and showcases the college's final PV product through pictures, videos, and dashboard data. While this project was designed for college-level education, many key considerations hold and can be transferred to a K-12 educational landscape in PV system design.
Featuring: Kenneth A. Walz, Ph.D., AEE REP
Science, Engineering, and Renewable Energy Instructor
Madison Area Technical CollegeSection Resources
- Go Solar: Top 10 Benefits of Solar Energy (website) - FAQs and resources explaining different motivating factors for PV, by EnergySage
- Solar Options for Schools (website) - list of initial considerations and benefits associated with schools and colleges going solar, by EnergySage
- Benefits of Solar Schools (PDF) - One page fact sheet from Generation180's Campaign Toolkit,
- Why Schools Should go Solar (website) - List of motivations for schools, by Solect Energy
- 2018 Course Whitepaper (PDF) - pages 2-3 list and explain many possible motivations for pursuing solar with related considerations and implications, by MREA
- System Advisor Model (SAM) - we provide this tool again in Module 7, but know that this is a project modeling tool that you can use to help project the financial costs and savings for a PV system with or without battery storage
- ReOpt Lite (tool) - this is another resource developed by NREL to help you optimize your battery system size with a PV system, designed with commercial buildings in mind. [/list_item]
- PV Emergency Resiliency Planning (PDF) - resource compiled by Mesiter Consultants Group
- When Commercial Solar+ Storage & Resiliency Makes Sense - this is a complication of resources put together by NREL
- Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Project FAQs for Wisconsin Schools (PDF) - FAQs and best practices, put together by Niels Wolter, Madison Solar Consulting, for WI schools pursuing PV
- Enlightened Education: Solar Engineering Design to Energize School Facilities - A team from Madison College, SunVest Solar, and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association authored this manuscript guide in 2020, published with the American Society for Engineering Education. It details best practices for solar energy development in Wisconsin and on schools, using Madison College as a case study example.
- Renewable Energy Project Development Toolbox (website) - list of PV development resources compiled by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)