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Arizona Schools Offset Energy Use with Solar Arrays

Copper Ridge School in Scottsdale, AZ and Cholla Elementary in Casa Grande have completed the installation of solar electric systems with a combined power output of 764 kilowatts.

The new system at Copper Ridge, a K-8 school in the Scottsdale Unified School District, was built with 2,387 Kyocera KD210 modules, and will produce 775,992 kilowatt hours a year. The solar panels will account for 47 percent of the school's energy needs.

Cholla Elementary, of the Casa Grande School District, installed 1,260 Kyocera KD210 modules, which will offset 70 percent of the school's energy use and produce 364,000 kilowatt hours a year.

Solar City installed the systems with no upfront payment from the schools as part of a solar service agreement, and will be paid from the electricity savings over the next 15 years.

The installations will save the schools 10 percent to 20 percent in energy costs for the life of the solar service agreement, and will offset 33 million pounds of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

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