OER: $1.3M available for schools to install solar energy systems

THE R.I. Office of Energy Resources has $1.3 million in funding available for schools to install solar energy systems.
THE R.I. Office of Energy Resources has $1.3 million in funding available for schools to install solar energy systems.

WARWICK – The R.I. Office of Energy Resources has $1.3 million in funding available for schools to install solar energy systems, and has put out a call for requests for proposals.

The funding announcement took place Tuesday at Rocky Hill School, which recently installed a solar energy system with funding from the OER and the Renewable Energy Fund at the R.I. Commerce Corporation.

“We are excited to announce the opening of this $1.3 million program to support solar on schools,” OER Commissioner Marion Gold said in a statement. “It is especially fitting that we celebrate next to a new solar installation at Rocky Hill School. The additional funds we are announcing today will allow schools across Rhode Island to join Rocky Hill School in saving money on electricity while providing a living laboratory for the students and educators.”

The Office of Energy Resources provided a $104,000 grant, which Rocky Hill School leveraged with a $32,191 grant from Commerce RI’s Renewable Energy Fund.

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The school installed 120 photovoltaic panels, which will generate approximately 20 percent of the Alan F. Flynn Academic Center’s annual electricity consumption.

“We are excited to benefit from these solar panels on our largest building, as they contribute to Rocky Hill School’s overall sustainability goals and environmental education programs,” Peter Branch, head of school, said.

The solar funding announced on Tuesday is from the state’s proceeds from participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is the first cap-and-trade program in the country designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector.

Rhode Island participates along with Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. States receive proceeds from pollution auctions, which they reinvest in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other clean energy programs.
Schools can find the RFP on the Office of Energy Resources website, energy.ri.gov.

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