Connecticut colleges and universities to benefit from solar

A solar farm that was recently installed in North Stonington, Connecticut is expected to provide more than $9 million in energy savings for five Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) campuses.

Greenskies Clean Focus recently completed the second of nine off-site solar systems planned for the CSCU. The 6.1MW ground-mounted solar system is expected to help the CSCU save an estimated $9.4 million in energy savings in the first 20 years.

Using virtual net metering, the solar farm will allocate power to five CSCU campuses across the state, using virtual net metering.  Those campuses include: Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Manchester Community College in Manchester and Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

“In addition to the financial benefits, this project is expected to generate upwards of 8.8 million kWh of clean, renewable energy every year,” said Stanley Chin, president and CEO of Greenskies.

The installation is expected to offset 125,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next twenty years– the equivalent of taking more than 27,000 cars off the road or preserving over 153,000 acres of US forests.

The solar farm consists of nearly 14,000 solar panels across about 27 acres of land.

The 6.1MW installation moves Connecticut forward in its solar penetration. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, Connecticut is one of the fastest growing of the smaller states in the solar industry, and currently gets 2.63% of its electricity from solar. Its  success is due in part from the state’s Connecticut Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program that offers property assessed clean energy financing and program services to municipalities and commercial property owners throughout Connecticut.