How do you encourage more schools to go solar when so many school administrators are unsure about the process, time frame and costs? The “Solar Schools 2025” initiative of the nonprofit Renewable Nation thinks it has the answer: by using the “buddy system” to pair up schools eager to go solar with schools that already have gone solar.
Solar Schools 2025 announced that it is seeking 50 K-12 schools across the United States that it can “buddy up” with schools that already have gone through the process. Schools can contact Solar Schools 2025 to apply by emailing joinus@renewablenation.us.
Virtually every rooftop in the U.S. already has been mapped to assess its suitability for solar power generation. There are about 125,000 U.S. elementary and secondary schools, of which 72,000 are solar-ready. However, only 5,489 U.S. schools (under 8 percent) had gone solar through the end of 2017.
Renewable Nation Project Director Scott Stapf said: “More than nine out of 10 solar-ready schools in the United States have not yet gone solar, and the new app-driven Renewable Nation and its ‘Solar Schools 2025’ program intend to do something about that. Renewable Nation uses the latest technology to help American schools and homeowners better understand and act on their renewable energy and energy efficiency choices.”
Stapf added: “For schools, solar power sends an important message to children about energy. It also saves money and conceivably can free up resources in financially pinched school districts that might otherwise be forced to cut core programs. Solar Schools 2025 will work with a modest number of schools every year, but its materials will be available via the Renewable Nation app to what may be hundreds of other interested educational institutions.”
Under the new initiative, Solar Schools 2025 will do the following:
- Target 50 schools a year to “buddy up” with schools that already have gone solar.
- Provide a step-by-step package of materials for schools that want to go solar.
- Produce a weekly series of webinars about how schools can go solar.
- Make available for wider consumption all video and written content originally developed for targeted schools through the Renewable Nation app.
Solar Schools 2025 is part of the Renewable Nation app, which is available now on the Google Play store and on iTunes. Renewable Nation is an independent non-profit effort dedicated to accelerating the adoption of safe, affordable and clean energy. Additional information about the app-based effort is available at www.RenewableNation.us.
Other elements of Renewable Nation are: a non-commercial, crowd-sourced database of solar contractors and installers for use by homeowners; and the best in curated videos about clean energy and energy efficiency projects around the home.
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Ward McCartney says
I would like to educate our local schools on the benefits of installing solar. We formed a group, Valencia Renewables to encourage local government agencies to install solar and to save them money. Ward