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Jan. 19, 2016 — Solar power marked another milestone on Jan. 19th. New York State formally kicked off its K-Solar program for schools with the announcement that the New York Institute for Special Education in the Bronx was the first school to sign a power purchase agreement for the program.
For the uninitiated, K-Solar is a first-of-its-kind program that enables public schools and nonprofit private schools to have solar arrays installed with no upfront costs.
In return, they sign a PPA with a developer, either SolarCity or SunEdison, depending on the territory. The price schools pay for the solar power will always be less than the prevailing market rate charged by the local utility.
The program is run by the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation's largest state-owned utility.
In addition, schools receive free STEM educational materials so solar power can be integrated into science, technology, and math curricula.
More than 300 school districts have registered for K-Solar and 10 have so far signed PPAs for 14 MW of solar.
For more information or to see a short video about the program, visit, respectively:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ny78-ukY-U&feature=youtu.be
NYPA is the nation's largest state public power organization, through the operation of its 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. NYPA uses no tax money or state credit. It finances its operations through the sale of bonds and revenues earned in large part through sales of electricity. For more information visit http://www.nypa.gov/.
