Known for its innovative curriculum, and true to its motto, “Learning — Not just for School, but for Life,” the prestigious Berkshire School has installed a 2 megawatt solar array on their campus and taken a leap toward its aim of carbon neutrality by 2016. The project is the result of a master energy plan developed by students at Berkshire School and will generate enough energy to power the equivalent of approximately 280* homes.
The school turned to PowerPlay Solar Development to bring this part of their energy management plan to fruition. Spire Solar Systems provided turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction services for the project. The array is expected to generate over 2,300 megawatt-hours in its first full year of operation. Annually, it will offset approximately 3,496,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and avoid the equivalent use of 1.72 million pounds of coal^.
Spire Solar Systems, in conjunction with PowerPlay Solar, navigated the
permitting, financing, design, and implementation process for an efficient
and aesthetically pleasing project that is among the largest arrays in the
Northeast. In addition to the environmental and financial benefits of the
project, it is a model project for students to understand how they can
implement real change, better understand their environment, and learn
about efficient and accessible technologies that are available for the
world’s energy needs.
Click here to download the Berkshire School Case Study
*An average MA home consumes about 8 MWh’s p/y according to US eia, http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3
^ US EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator, 2,300,000 kwh’s of electricity produces 3,496,000 pounds of CO2,
and would require 8.6 railcars of coal, each car with a capacity of ~100 short tons (100*2000*8.6=1.72Mlbs)
http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html#results
