Want to support the latest community solar energy project in Olympia? Here’s how
An Olympia middle school will get a community solar array on its roof next summer through a new partnership.
The solar array will be at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in west Olympia, according to a news release. Olympia Community Solar, a local non-profit, is partnering with the Olympia School District on the project.
Once complete, the school will have 306 solar panels across its roof capable of producing 149,000 kilowatt-hours of energy a year, according to the release. That should reduce the school’s energy costs and support regional climate mitigation efforts.
Olympia Community Solar has developed and operated similar projects at the Olympia Farmers Market and the Hands On Children’s Museum. Mason Rolph, the non-profit’s president, said in the release his team is honored to partner with the school district this time.
“Thurgood Marshall Community Solar provides an accessible opportunity for our community to participate in the clean energy economy, contribute to climate action, and support local education,” Rolph said.
In addition to reducing costs, the school district hopes the project will help students understand the merits of renewable energy solutions, according to Olympia School District Superintendent Patrick Murphy.
“This project will create learning opportunities about renewable energy for students and aligns with OSD Student Outcome #6,” Murphy said in the news release.
Outcome #6 calls for students to be critical thinkers who contribute and collaborate with the local, global and natural world. Murphy said the district expects students to advocate and contribute to projects that use natural resources in an “efficient, sustainable way.”
Under the community solar array model, a group of people own and benefit from the project. This means community members can provide upfront capital by purchasing or donating solar units as well as subscriptions to the project’s energy production.
Eventually, participants can recover their contribution with interest, but not profit, as the project sells electricity. The school will pay for the energy at a lower price than the local utility’s retail rate, according to the project website.
Once the contributions have been recovered, the website says the system will be donated to the school district.
For the Marshall Middle School project, the release says 600 subscriptions will be available. Anyone can participate or donate at the project’s website.
Puget Sound Solar, a Seattle based company, will install the solar array in summer 2023, according to the release.
This story was originally published July 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
