On Energy Sources and Use in Seattle Schools

I saw an article online from a media non-profit " telling stories of climate solutions and a just future," called Grist about U.S. schools and solar power. 

According to the fourth edition of the “Brighter Future” report, released last week by the clean energy nonprofit Generation180, the number of U.S. schools using solar power has more than doubled in the last seven years, reaching roughly 8,400 by the end of 2021. These so-called “solar schools” now account for nearly 1 in 10 public, independent, and charter K-12 schools and serve more than 6 million students nationwide.

Since 2015, American schools’ total solar energy capacity has nearly tripled to 1,644 megawatts — enough to meet the electricity use of all the households in a city the size of Boston, Denver, or Washington, D.C.

At the front of the pack is California; the Golden State has both the greatest number of solar schools and the most solar capacity. It’s in fourth place for the percentage of schools that have solar power, trailing only Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and Hawai’i, where a full 40 percent of schools have adopted solar. And other states are making great gains — between 2019 and 2021, Washington state saw solar capacity grow more than eightfold, while Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, and Virginia all at least doubled their installed solar capacity.

Despite schools’ progress, Generation180 emphasizes that there’s still work to do, as some 90 percent of U.S. schools still lack solar panels.  

I sent an email to head of Facilities, Richard Best about solar and SPS buildings and received a reply from Ian A. Brown, Resource Conservation Specialist. Thank you to Mr. Best and Mr. Brown for their input. (Bold mine)

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) currently has six large (> 100 kW) solar photovoltaic arrays at the following schools:
 
Arbor Heights: 142kW
Ballard HS: 122kW
Bailey Gatzert: 153kW
Hazel-Wolf K-8: 93kW
South Shore MS: 138kW
Thornton Creek: 153 kW

The total cost of the six solar installations was $2,295,632, with funding consisting of BEX II and BEX III capital levy funds, a Department of Commerce Grant of $500,000, and a Seattle City Light (SCL) Grant of $150,000. There are a few other schools with much smaller solar array installations, that were funded separately. It’s estimated that the photovoltaic arrays will produce approximately $70k worth of electricity per year at SCL’s current rates. A simple payback calculation shows the solar arrays will take around 32.7 years to generate enough electricity for what they cost to install.  Because of the two grants SPS received concerning this installation the  simple payback is reduced to 23.5 years.
 
We would also offer the following comments:

Our regional electricity costs are some of the lowest in the nation.
SCL’s energy portfolio consists of 91% renewables (hydro, wind, solar), with the other 9% in carbon offsets.
In other regions of the country where electrical generation depends on fossil fuels, photovoltaic solar arrays can have a significant impact reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG).

If we want to focus on reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, our first priority should be the electrification of our heating and cooling systems within our buildings. The majority of our GHG emissions is due to our buildings being heated with fossil fuels. The best effort we can make to reducing our carbon footprint is to wean ourselves off of natural gas. If we want to place a value on carbon output by metric ton and how it impacts our environment and contributes to global warming, we should focus our limited funds on the decarbonization of our schools.

At this moment in time the cost of installing and maintaining photovoltaic solar arrays is not cost efficient. As electricity and demand costs rise in our area and the cost of manufacturing of photovoltaic solar arrays drops, the Return on Investment (ROI) will reduce and become more cost-effective. The implications for SPS are that we need to carefully consider how we prioritize our limited funds.

Lastly, it should be noted that our BEX V schools will be all-electric and will incorporate the required solar arrays to meet the 2018 Seattle Energy Code compliance.  SPS’s efforts focus on the thermal envelope to reduce our energy use index and so with future solar array installation our buildings will approach net zero carbon output. I also want to point you towards the School Board’s Clean Energy Resolution which targets 2040 for the District to become carbon neutral. Currently, we are working with the Clean Energy Task Force, as required by the resolution, to identify pathways to achieve this goal.

Here in Arizona, many schools have the land to have what I would call a "solar farm" with rows and rows of solar arrays. I'd bet that's cheaper to do than having to put them on roofs. 

But I also note this information from another article from Grist:

According to the organization’s report, much of Pennsylvania schools’ solar growth has been driven by an increasingly popular third-party ownership model called a power purchase agreement, or PPA. Under a PPA, which could last anywhere from 5 years to multiple decades, a third-party solar developer takes advantage of a federal tax credit to install and maintain a solar installation. Meanwhile, the school — which is ineligible for the tax credit — pays the developer for energy produced until the PPA is over, usually at a lower rate than utilities would charge. This allows schools to install solar panels  even if they don’t have room for them in their capital budgets. Over the past two years, nearly 75 percent of Pennsylvania schools’ solar installations were facilitated by a PPA or similar arrangement.