Washington and Lee University in Virginia will be completely reliant on solar energy after signing an agreement with a developer building an offsite solar farm nearby.
The Cardinal News reported that the university will purchase 11 megawatts of power from a developer who operates an offsite solar farm in North Carolina. The partnership will help the school improve its progress to meet a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, the school said.
Washington and Lee was already operating part of campus on solar energy, but three onsite arrays of solar panels produced only 575 megawatts of power annually. Those efforts have helped the school reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent. Emissions reduction will be improved to 63 percent after transitioning to solar power.
Sustainability efforts helped the school save $1 million on utilities since 2007. The school’s vice president for finance said the project is projected to save $1.8 million more over the next 20 years.
Dave Lubach is managing editor of the Facility Market.
