Succeeding with Solar School Programs: An Examination of Xcel Energy’s Solar Schools Program in Colorado

Robi Robichaud, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Keywords

Abstract

In the Solar Schools program, Xcel Energy, a public utility, contracted with a private distributed generation service company for the design and installation of educational demonstration photovoltaic (PV) systems on 29 schools throughout Colorado. Significant program funding was provided by the Renewable Energy Trust, a ratepayer supported fund that provides funding for renewable energy projects at schools and non-profits.

Through the program, PV systems were installed on elementary, middle, and high schools in urban, suburban and rural locations. Installed systems consisted of 2.4 kW of single crystal silicon PV modules, 2.0 kW inverter for grid-tied installations with no back-up storage, electrical generation and rooftop weather monitors, data logger, and a classroom computer connected real-time to the Data Acquisition System (DAS). Ambient conditions as well as system power generation are displayed and archived on the classroom computer.

Program objectives included:

educate school communities about PV technology;
provide educational opportunities through real-time data display;
install as many systems as possible as cost effectively as possible with available funds;
demonstrate PV technology and its reliability to the school and the community; and
increase the utility’s experience with PV system operation and grid inter-tie issues.

As part of the grant application, school faculty committed to develop solar curriculum using the PV system and data. A significant barrier to curriculum development proved to be teachers’ limited technical background with PV systems, electricity fundamentals and computer data analysis.

This paper describes the program implementation process. It reviews the design, installation, and applicable obstacles encountered as well as the approaches taken to overcome them, and an evaluation of how well the program objectives were met.