REC Solar, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Renewables, is developing a solar-plus-storage project for Pleasanton Unified School District in Pleasanton, California. The project will include 1 MW of solar carports and a 660-kWh battery energy storage system at Pleasanton Unified’s Amador Valley High School.
“For many years it has been our goal to educate global citizens while focusing on projects that improve the health and well-being of our students, staff and community,” said David Haglund, superintendent at Pleasanton Unified. “As cutting emissions is crucial to our global future, our project to install solar generation plus battery storage will benefit our students for decades.”
Investment in the project is estimated to save the Pleasanton school district more than $2.2 million with a 25-year lifetime of the PPA, which will be financed by Duke Energy Renewables.
“Pleasanton Unified is a great example of the U.S. education market’s increasing desire to tap on-site solar generation combined with energy storage,” said Matt Walz, CEO of REC Solar. “By choosing solar-plus-storage, the district will further control costs under new time-of-use rates, reduce demand charges and cut emissions during peak hours when the electric grid is stressed by high demand.”
Pleasanton Unified, which is a public primary and secondary education school district, is the latest of REC Solar’s solar-plus-storage installation at more than 100 California schools.
“Education services is the largest sub-segment of commercial and industrial customers today,” said Brett Simon, a senior storage analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. “School boards and universities make ideal customers for storage developers. They are willing to accept longer payback periods compared to private-sector customers, have multiple buildings to allow for many deployments from a single contract, and usually have needs for bill reduction and resilience.”
Pleasanton Unified School District is also reconfiguring the parking lot at the school to maximize the performance of the solar arrays while also enhancing the lot’s accessibility and safety features. The new solar arrays will provide up to 97% of the high school’s current energy use. Students will also have access to REC Solar’s Greenpower Monitor tool and data for hands-on learning opportunities.
News item from Duke Energy
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