About a decade ago, Ruth Amundsen was talking to a solar financier who told her about the concept of power purchase agreements.
The agreements are “a way for someone to buy solar and put it on another institution, and then get their money back,” said Amundsen, a former NASA engineer who now operates several local solar organizations, including Norfolk Solar.
She started thinking of where to put the concept into practice and one place quickly came to mind: her children’s school, Norfolk Academy.
Amundsen began speaking with fellow parents at the private school and they got creative to make it happen.
A small group eventually agreed to cover the upfront costs of installing 2,000 panels at Norfolk Academy, with a contract that ensures they’ll be reimbursed through the energy savings.
“The school literally had no money out of pocket,” Amundsen said. “They got $1 million of solar, and the parents will be paid back in seven years.”
Amundsen and other solar advocates in Hampton Roads plan to show off the installation at Norfolk Academy this weekend to encourage other schools to pursue their own.
Several local nonprofits are behind the event, including Third Act Tidewater, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Environment Virginia. Their goal is to jumpstart solar projects before federal tax credits for investments in clean energy expire.
“We have a very short timeline to get the schools to do solar,” Amundsen said. “There's enough examples out there to show that it can be done. It's just the political will.”
Tax credits for homeowners installing residential panels sunset at the end of this year. But the commercial credits, for larger installations including on schools, have a more complicated timeline. Projects must either begin construction by July 2026 or complete it by the end of 2027.
School buildings are ideal for solar energy on a practical level because they often are not shaded and have large, flat, single-story roofs that make panels easy to install, Amundsen said.
Norfolk Academy’s system went up in 2018, producing enough energy to power the equivalent of about 60 homes.
Robert Call, chair of the science department, said the panels now save the school about $80,000 per year in energy costs. “That's a lot of money for a school to suddenly have available for all sorts of things,” he said.
The academy also uses the system to teach students about elements such as how electricity is made and how to calculate bill savings.
“They’re constantly around cars and gasoline engines and things like that,” Call said. “So having them see another energy source and think about that is just really great from an educational standpoint.”
Parents paying for panels is just one model, which will not work everywhere, Amundsen said. Any company, community organization or alumni could similarly step in to fund projects.
But many public schools in Hampton Roads have turned to power purchase agreements with commercial solar financing companies. A company installs, maintains and owns the solar system on school property, and the school buys the energy at a pre-set, lower rate.
Virginia Beach, in particular, has invested in the strategy, putting up panels on many schools in recent years, including Princess Anne Middle, Old Donation School, Ocean Lakes Elementary and Thoroughgood Elementary.
Representatives from the Beach school district will present their experiences with solar financing at Saturday’s event.
Amundsen said she hopes city council and school board members, parents and interested citizens from around the region will show up.
“There's a lot of ways many schools are really nervous about solar, both because they think there's a cost, and because they think there's a risk,” she said. “I like that (we) can be showing the community and other schools that this is possible. It’s not a mystery. It’s not scary.”
The Solar Schools event runs from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Norfolk Academy. It’s free and open to the public.
