Crews from New England Clean Energy began installing two solar energy systems with a combined 63 kW of capacity at Nature’s Classroom’s main campus in Charlton, Massachusetts. When the new systems begin producing electricity, 94% of the electricity consumed at the 500-acre Charlton facility will come from renewable energy sources. Nature’s Classroom already has 90 kW of solar energy capacity and a 100-kW wind turbine at the Charlton location.
Nature’s Classroom’s main campus has two conference centers, dormitories for 300 people, indoor classrooms, meeting rooms, a dining hall, gymnasium, and more than 500 acres of woodlands, wetlands, streams and fields.
Today, the facility generates 60%t of its electricity from a wind turbine and two other solar systems installed by New England Clean Energy, as well as one other small solar system. Those systems save the non-profit organization $2,800 on electricity per year. These savings will increase five-fold when Nature’s Classroom pays off the leases on the two new solar systems.
“Not using fossil fuels for our electricity needs is a positive statement from Nature’s Classroom,” explained Dr. John Santos, director of Nature’s Classroom. “Getting most of our electricity from renewables fits perfectly with our mission. It speaks volumes to the hundreds of students and teachers that visit each year about our commitment to environmental education, and to practicing sustainable habits. These are messages we want to reinforce and have incorporated into our curriculum.”
“Nature’s Classroom is an environmental leader in many ways. They are also smart business people, who are greatly reducing and stabilizing their operating costs, generating new income and strengthening their brand with solar, while living the values they teach,” said Jim Elkind, New England Clean Energy chief executive officer.
The new systems are a 50.3-kW system on the East Lodge, and a 12.7-kW system on the “Red House”. Both systems have SunPower 327-watt panels (154 and 39 respectively), and SolarEdge inverters with optimizer technology.
In addition, Nature’s Classroom has a 66-kW solar energy system installed in 2013, a 15-kW system installed in 2010, and a 9-kW system installed in 2006.
Financing for the systems is from Technology Credit Corporation (TCC), via a 15-year Purchased Power Agreement (PPA), under which TCC owns the system, and Nature’s Classroom purchases the electricity at a discount and keeps the rights to the Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs), allowing it to obtain income from selling in the Massachusetts market.
Nature’s Classroom is a non-profit environmental education organization with 13 sites in New England and New York. Since its creation in 1973, more than 750,000 elementary and middle school students have experienced Nature’s Classroom, most for five-day programs emphasizing scientific inquiry and critical thinking. Nature’s Classroom has been recognized for excellence by the National Science Teachers Association and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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