Solar Powered Education K 12 Schools Save On Energy Bills By Using Solar Panels

Clean, inexpensive solar power is bringing about a revolution in education.

According to Sustainable Business, "The first study of solar at US schools finds installations at 3,752 K-12 schools, reaching nearly 2.7 million students. The schools are saving a combined 77.8 million a year on utility bills - an average of almost 21,000 a year per school."

K-12 schools with solar (suns) and the schools that could benefit from solar depending upon price (green and yellow pins), by The Solar Foundation and the Solar Energy Industries Association. (Image Source: seia.org)

Higher education is soaking in the rays of the sun, too. According to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), "AASHEs Campus Solar Photovoltaic Installations database contains information on 552 solar photovoltaic installations on 326 campuses in 46 states and provinces. The total capacity is 191,577 kilowatts and the average capacity is 352 kilowatts."

Likewise, America's first Ecotech Institute practices what it preaches. A U.S. Green Building Council certified LEED Gold facility, Ecotech Institute features 50,000 kw hours total per year.

Kyle G. Crider (MPA, LEED AP ND) is a professional science and sustainability "story teller." In his spare time he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary (Environmental Health) Engineering and traveling the highways and by-ways of home state with his wife Beverly in search of fact, fiction, and folklore for Strange Alabama.