Recognizing their outstanding work bringing a 1 megawatt portfolio of solar to their students, staff, and community, Alamo Heights Independent School District (AHISD) in San Antonio, TX has received the Bill Sinkin Solar Technology Award from the City of San Antonio. The award was presented on November 1 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.
The solar projects, built by PCI Solar, are located at Howard Elementary School, Edward T Robbins School, Cambridge Elementary School, Alamo Heights Junior School, and administrative buildings. They include a broad array of solar technologies, from rooftop installations to shade structures to ground mount installations. The variety of system types provide a firsthand teaching point for students on 21st century energy solutions.
AHISD began their solar journey in 2011, when they issued the first of two competitive RFPs to design and build a total of 7 turnkey, grid-tied solar systems, totaling over 1MW to date, on various school facilities. PCI Solar worked with AHISD and community leaders to overcome a variety of challenges with bringing solar to these schools:
- Consideration of local utility CPS Energy’s interconnection requirements
- Installation of both roof and ground mount systems
- Compliance with local zoning ordinances and codes
- Ongoing school and community activities and associated construction restrictions
- Close collaboration with AHISD staff, facility management, and community stakeholders
- A tight construction schedule
For the first solar procurement in 2011, the PCI Solar team (formerly with another company) designed and built two solar projects totaling 626kw DC on Alamo Heights Junior School and Woodridge Elementary School. For the second procurement in 2013, PCI Solar designed and built five projects totaling 407.16kw DC.
PCI Solar’s full in-house solar engineering, design, and project management team provided the solar and construction experience and resources required to overcome the above challenges on time, on budget and to AHISD specifications. AHISD valued the PCI Solar team’s experience in executing solar projects in San Antonio and for other school districts, along with the company’s outstanding safety rating — a crucial factor when operating heavy, energized equipment on an active educational campus. PCI’s bonding capacity of $75 million per project and $750 million in aggregate was also an important factor for working with a local government entity.
The systems are connected to and operate in parallel with the CPS grid. AHISD funded the projects through bonds, with PCI Solar obtaining critical CPS rebates and Feed-In-Tariffs to help make the projects make good financial sense, in addition to being a great educational tool for students and teachers.
Curious about available solar rebates in San Antonio from CPS Energy? Call PCI Solar now at 888.846.8653 to schedule a no obligation feasibility study, or learn more at: www.pcisolar.com.
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