Solar is helping schools save big. Your district could be next.

Canary Media’s Electrified Life column shares real-world tales, tips, and insights to demystify what individuals can do to shift their homes and lives to clean electric power. 

More than a decade ago, Denver Public Schools decided that it was time to go solar. There was just one problem: The district didn’t have the cash.

Buying solar arrays outright can cost schools upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a steep price most can’t afford. ​“At the time, we just didn’t have as much capital to put upfront for rooftop solar,” said LeeAnn Kittle, executive director of sustainability at Denver Public Schools.

So the district opted to use a power purchase agreement (PPA), a financing tool that can help schools adopt solar with no upfront costs. Rather than directly owning their panels, schools can find a solar developer or other third party to fund, install, and maintain them. In exchange, the school pays the developer a fixed price for the power produced by the system — often at a lower rate than what’s offered by the local utility. 

With a PPA, schools can see ​“immediate savings from day one,” said Tish Tablan, program director at the clean energy advocacy group Generation180.

So far, this model has enabled thousands of schools to access cheap, clean power. More than 80 percent of solar capacity installed at nearly 9,000 K-12 schools nationwide has been financed by PPAs and other third-party ownership models, according to Generation180, and many are seeing impressive savings.

For its part, Denver Public Schools has installed 8.8 megawatts of solar power across 47 different sites since 2010, using PPAs to finance 3.7 megawatts (the rest is funded through energy performance contracting, a Colorado program to promote renewable energy at public institutions). Solar now produces 9.5 percent of the school system’s electricity, and saves the district 7 percent annually on energy costs, said Kittle.

Elsewhere, PPAs have helped schools meet virtually all their power needs with solar: Wayne County, West Virginia, expects to cover 99 percent of its electricity demand by next year with a solar PPA and to trim its utility bills by 10 to 20 percent. School districts in other states, including California, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, expect to save tens of millions of dollars over the next few decades. These lower energy bills have helped schools redirect money toward chronic budget deficits, teacher salaries, and even clean energy job-training programs.

But PPAs and other forms of third-party solar ownership are legal in only 29 states and Washington, D.C., owing to a mix of utility pushback and state policy stagnation. For schools that can’t tap the sun this way, there are other ways to bring down the cost of buying solar, from federal tax credits to state grant programs.

Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or student, anyone interested in nudging their local schools to go solar can help kick things off, Tablan stressed. 

“A solar champion can really come from anywhere,” Tablan said. 

Here are three steps you can take to advocate for solar in your local school district.

1. Start the conversation 

The first step, Tablan advised, is to get solar on the agenda: Start talking about it with community members and school leaders, and see if going solar is possible. 

School board meetings are a good entry point. They’re open to the public and usually allow attendees to speak for a few minutes. If you’re a student, parent, or community member, this is one venue where you can express your interest in solar and share ideas or inspirations for projects, Tablan said.

Another option is to reach out to your school district’s facilities manager, who typically oversees buildings and interacts directly with the local utility. They will likely know whether the school has considered or attempted a clean energy project before and if any repairs would need to happen first, said Tablan — for example, replacing a roof. Some school districts also have an energy or sustainability specialist who could serve as a first point of contact.

One of the most effective ways to build support for new solar projects is to highlight nearby success stories, Tablan said. If a neighboring school district has managed to save money by adding solar, advocates can point to how that project was financed and built, which can make the whole process ​“feel attainable right off the bat,” Tablan said. Here’s a map of all K-12 schools in the country that have installed onsite solar here.

2. Find like-minded people

It’s easier to move a school solar project forward if you work with fellow advocates to build momentum in your community, so that’s step two. 

You might find like-minded individuals in student clubs, parent-teacher associations, or other local groups like faith-based communities and environmental organizations. Generation180 offers a guide on organizing a solar campaign at your school, with tips on how to best collaborate with your team and identify key decision-makers and supporters.

In Denver, student activism propelled the school district to adopt a climate action plan that commits to 65 percent renewable electricity generation by 2028. The two-year campaign, which began with 30 students across eight different schools during the pandemic lockdown, has sparked a push to install even more solar and address resource consumption across the district. ​“They made it the fabric of our culture here,” said Kittle.

Community support is important for clearing a key hurdle to going solar: school board approval. Even after a project is approved, community advocates can stay engaged to make sure that the district follows through on its commitments and weigh in when public input is needed. 

3. Investigate state and federal funding options

If PPAs are not an option in your state, a third step might be looking into other potential funding sources. 

For instance, schools can leverage federal tax credits to offset the initial costs of clean energy projects. A tax credit introduced under the Inflation Reduction Act allows K-12 schools to receive reimbursements for 30 percent or more of the costs of purchasing and installing solar projects. Talking to the school district and other community members about these tax credits can help push a campaign forward.

Some states also offer grants, including Maryland, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Schools can then apply for state funding and stack multiple sources to offset costs.

Figuring out how to finance projects can get really complicated, fast — but you don’t need to have all the answers yourself, Tablan said. Bringing affordable, pollution-free power to your local schools is a community-wide effort. Just getting the conversation started can be a significant contribution.

“You’ll bring together a team of other voices that have the expertise needed,” she said. ​“You don’t need to be an energy expert to move this forward.