Roanoke County knows it wants to put solar panels on the new career and technical education facility it’s preparing to build.
But it doesn’t have solar now on any of its 27 schools. The division is hoping a pilot project at Cave Spring High School can help it get some experience before it decides how best to take advantage of solar’s cost-saving potential.
The county joins a growing list of Southwest Virginia school systems that are considering or have signed on to solar projects in an effort to save money — and in some cases, provide workforce training opportunities for students.
Roanoke County has been exploring solar for about a year, said Todd Kageals, director of facilities and operations for the school division. “The goal is to save money for the school division and predict energy costs,” he said, noting that Appalachian Power rates have gone up about 3% each year over the past 15 years or so.
Division staffers and school board members have met with representatives of various solar energy companies to learn about options for buying and maintaining solar panels, as well as to learn about power purchase agreements.
Under a power purchase agreement, or PPA, the solar company owns the panels and sells electricity to the customer, with the aim of providing energy at a lower price than if the customer bought it directly from its electric utility.
Roanoke County considered three high schools and an elementary school for a solar pilot project before settling on Cave Spring due to its roof size, age and condition and its existing electrical gear.
“Most schools are one- or two-story buildings. Most have flat roofs. For that reason they’re well-suited for solar from a physical standpoint,” said Tony Smith, president and co-founder of Staunton-based Secure Solar Futures, which recently gained Roanoke City Council approval to develop solar power on seven city school buildings.
Many solar vendors also offer curriculum that schools can use for their STEM classes, or training opportunities via career and technical programs.
“Students are increasingly very pragmatic, wanting to know, am I going to get a job when I finish school? Solar happens to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the country,” Smith said.
The Roanoke City Council on Jan. 16 voted to approve a 25-year power purchase agreement between Secure Solar Futures and Roanoke City Public Schools. The deal was first announced in December.
The Roanoke agreement calls for developing 1.7 megawatts of solar power across seven locations: Fallon Park and Fishburn Park elementary schools; James Breckinridge, John P. Fishwick, Lucy Addison and Woodrow Wilson middle schools; and the William B. Robertson Central Administration building, which was formerly the downtown home of The Roanoke Times.
Construction is expected to be complete by the end of this year.
Under the terms of the agreement, the solar arrays, made by the Chinese firm Trina Solar, will be installed at no upfront cost to the city school system.
After 25 years, the school system will have the option to purchase the solar arrays, which are estimated to have a 35- to 40-year usable lifespan, or continue the power purchase agreement, or ask the company to remove the panels, Smith said in an interview.
“The expectation is that because it will easily have another 10 years of productive life, is that they will purchase the system,” he said.
Schools in Appalachian Power territory were unable to enter into power purchase agreements until 2020, when the General Assembly passed legislation allowing that while also expanding the number of PPAs allowed in Dominion Energy territory. Secure Solar Futures was a leading advocate for the new laws.
[Disclosure: Dominion is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
The company said that in the first year, the solar panels in Roanoke city will offset nearly 39% of the seven locations’ combined electricity demand.
City school officials estimate that over the first 25 years, they’ll save $8.4 million in energy costs while paying $5.4 million in solar service fees, for a net benefit of about $3 million.
The school system could then save another nearly $4.9 million in energy costs in the 10 years that follow, according to figures provided by the school division.
Secure Solar Futures also plans to help the school system establish a solar power technician workforce development program for high school students and offer other opportunities for students to learn about solar energy.
Besides considering career opportunities, students are interested in the solar industry because of their concerns about climate change, Smith said.
“They want to be a part of something that can address some of the severe changes in weather events that are directly related to climate change,” he said.
Secure Solar Futures also is involved with solar projects and workforce training in Wise and Lee counties.
In 2022, the company began installing solar arrays at seven Wise County schools and five in Lee County. It partnered with the electrical service contractor Got Electric and hired 10 local high school students and recent graduates to help perform the installation work. With money from the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority and Secure Solar Futures, the students were trained, paid $17 an hour and earned credit at Mountain Empire Community College as part of an eight-week apprenticeship.
“That was too good a deal to pass up for many of these people,” Smith said.
This year in Lee County, a second round of solar arrays will be built, backed by the Coalfield Solar Fund, which provides grants to incentivize solar development at K-12 schools and community colleges in Virginia and West Virginia.
Back in Roanoke County, the school board appears ready to proceed with a PPA for its Cave Spring pilot project and is likely to vote to move forward at its next meeting on Feb. 22. “The risks are slim to none, but the benefits are there,” said board member Cheryl Facciani during a lengthy discussion at Thursday’s school board work session.
The division has received several proposals for ownership and PPA models but needs school board approval to continue. A board meeting last month included a PPA pitch from SunTribe, a Charlottesville-based company that has solar projects in place in Henrico and Chesterfield County schools, among others. Under that proposal, Roanoke County schools would pay the same rate throughout its 20-year agreement. The division would save about 20% on Cave Spring’s energy bills right away, Kageals said.
On Thursday, the school board spoke with representatives of Arlington and Culpeper County schools, both of which have active solar projects. Culpeper recently purchased solar panels for the roof of its new career and technical education building, while Arlington County has a mix of owned and leased projects that have launched over the last 10 years.
For one school where the division owns and maintains its solar roof, utility costs are one-tenth of what Arlington spends on other schools, said Catherine Lin, facilities and operations director for Arlington Public Schools.
Lin sees benefits in both models, she told the board, but a PPA ensures that the solar system will be maintained, inspected and repaired whenever necessary by the provider. “As you know, for most school systems, one of the biggest hurdles is having enough resources for good maintenance,” Lin said.
This article was updated on Feb. 2 to correct the date of the next Roanoke County School Board meeting.