New England’s largest solar parking canopy to date, a 3.2MW solar array covering 800-parking spaces on five acres of Bristol Community College’s (BCC’s) Fall River Campus, has been launched by a partnership formed by PowerOptions and SunEdison.
PowerOption is a nonprofit energy-buying consortium. It partners with SunEdison to build the 3.2MW parking canopy solar array for BCC, helping the College offset half of the campus’s electricity needs. The solar array is expected to generate more than 34,000,000 kWh of power annually, and will save up to US$1.75 million over the next 20 years.
The solar canopy will supply power for the entire Fall River Campus, and is slated to be a major part of the Zero Net Energy plans for the John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building which is currently under construction. The building will house health sciences programs and life sciences laboratory learning spaces, which are notoriously huge energy consumers. The solar canopy, coupled with design choices for passive solar in the building itself and installation of geothermal wells, will help the college achieve this Zero Net Energy goal for the building.
"Bristol Community College is committed to sustainable energy and lessening our impact on the planet," said John J. Sbrega, Ph.D., President of Bristol Community College. "This public-private collaboration is a model for energy generation and usage, and Bristol Community College is taking a leading role in finding solutions to address the enormous power needs of modern higher education."
The solar canopy is the latest realization of the PowerOptions Solar Program. Meanwhile, the college has signed a power purchase agreement with SunEdison to buy the power from the solar array for next 20 years. SunEdison will offer O&M services as well.
The state of Massachusetts aims to have 1,600MW of solar at homes, business, municipalities and state agencies by 2020, said Governor Charlie Baker. The solar canopy installed in BCC is part of achieving the goal.