Montville Township Public Schools, New Jersey is joining in the net-zero revolution and installing solar modules at six schools in Morris County. The SolarEdge DC-optimized system will save nearly $1 million annually in energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. It is expected to produce 1.84 MW solar energy per year.
Solar Landscape, a developer and installer, chose SolarEdge because it can maximize energy production while overcoming common design challenges when installing solar arrays in school buildings. Older buildings have roofs with multiple orientations and obstructions, such as skylights, that limit module placement and decrease energy production. Module placement in a non-optimized, traditional solar solution is restricted by string lengths that must be equal and the tilt and azimuth of each module. SolarEdge has no such limitations, which allows the modules to be adapted to roof shapes and designs to produce more power. Solar Landscape was able to increase the roof space of two school buildings by nearly 50%.
Six of the 600 installed solar systems have recently been added to New Jersey schools in a program to reduce carbon emissions. Solar Landscape provided the 15-year, solar power purchase agreement (PPA), which funded the project. Montville Township Public Schools were able to install solar arrays without any upfront capital investment. They will also be able to buy the electricity generated at a much lower price than what they would pay for energy from a grid.
Eric Boehm is Vice President of Operations at Solar Landscape. “All our installations require the best and most reliable equipment. SolarEdge is a good fit to this project.” The system’s module-level monitoring capabilities allow for the safety of rooftop installations and valuable data about system performance in real time. This allows for significant reductions in maintenance costs. This is an important aspect of every project we do, but especially for schools. This gives teachers, students and school leaders an exciting way of seeing how much energy the modules generate.
In order to emphasize the importance of sustainability and to increase the awareness of students about it, a large-screen monitor was installed in Montville High School Rotunda. It displays the energy generated by the SolarEdge system in real time.
Montville Township Public Schools’ Business Manager Katine Slunt stated that protecting the environment and combating climate change are priorities for schools, students, and their community. We’re making use of a valuable resource: the roofs on our buildings, which is an untapped source of solar energy. We can now be better stewards and show our students how to fight climate change by leading with our financial resources.”
, which funded the project. Montville Township Public Schools were able to install solar arrays without any upfront capital investment. They will also be able to buy the electricity generated at a much lower price than what they would pay for energy from a grid.){kind=link}