SOU receives third $1 million state grant for solar arrays

(Ashland, Ore.) - The solar energy aspirations at Southern Oregon University have received another jolt, with news that the Oregon Department of Energy has approved a third round of state funding for SOU's push to become the nation's first public university to generate all of the daytime electricity that it uses. The latest $1 million grant will be used to install a battery storage bank at SOU's Computer Science Building and a solar array in a nearby parking lot.

The university has now received a $1 million grant in each of the most recent three years from the state Department of Energy's Community Renewable Energy Grant Program, along with a $2 million appropriation from Congress in December 2022. Part of the federal appropriation will likely be used to complete funding for the Computer Science Building projects, which will cost a total of $1.3 million.

"We are excited about these opportunities to further diversify SOU's revenue, and to increase our on campus renewable energy and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions," said Becs Walker, the university's director of sustainability. "We also recognize the importance of energy efficiency, and are monitoring all buildings to identify potential improvements. A recent renovation project on Britt Hall improved our energy efficiency across campus."

This year's funding process for the Community Renewable Energy Grant Program was especially competitive, with the state selecting 34 of 75 applicants to receive a total of almost $18 million in grants. The program is intended to support planning and construction of renewable energy or energy resiliency projects for Tribes, public bodies and consumer-owned utilities.

SOU is currently working on solar projects - funded by the earlier grant, appropriations and $51,000 from the Associated Students of SOU's Green Fund - at Lithia Motors Pavilion and The Hawk Dining Commons that will increase the university's photovoltaic output from the current 455 kilowatts (kW) to a total of 848 kilowatts. The first project has added a 241 kW solar array to the 63 kW solar array already on the athletic pavilion's roof, making it the largest rooftop solar array in Ashland. The second project, at The Hawk Dining Commons, is a solar array and battery storage bank that will enable SOU to support community resilience by providing power at The Hawk, if needed, in the event of an emergency.

SOU's first solar canopy in a parking lot will be funded with money from the state Department of Energy's second round of grants and the congressional appropriation. The first parking lot array will add 340 kilowatts of generating capacity, and SOU will be able to produce about 17% of the daytime electricity it uses when all three current projects are completed. That amount will increase when the Computer Science Building projects are also built out.

SOU has nine existing solar arrays, plus one at the Higher Education Center in Medford and a pole-mounted array installed in 2022 by a nonprofit on land leased from the university. SOU has added five arrays over the past four years, with funding from private investors, grants, the student government and university administration.

The university anticipates generating 100% of its own electricity by 2033, and is already planning for its next rounds of solar expansion. SOU is focused on being entrepreneurial in its approaches to revenue generation, and on energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Its eventual energy independence will save the university at least $750,000 per year in utility costs, and each solar array that comes on-line results in an incremental reduction of the overall energy bill for campus.

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