51³Ô¹ÏÍø is part of the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour and part of the ASES local "Ohio Wish You Were Here" tour on October 2 and 3. Explore sites virtually.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø went solar for cost savings to continue to establish 51³Ô¹ÏÍø as a leader in sustainability and environmental stewardship, to attract students, and to help our planet.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s first solar array was installed through a power purchase agreement on the roof of the Field House on the Kent Campus. A third-party developer owned the solar array but sold the power to 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. Upon completion in the summer of 2012 it was the largest roof-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panel electrical system within the University System of Ohio. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø now owns that system.
Recently, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø added solar arrays at six of our regional campuses (Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Stark, Salem, Trumbull) as well as the College of Podiatric Medicine, increasing our solar energy capacity to 4.25 megawatts. While contributing to the environmental benefits of solar power, these new solar arrays are also projected to save the university about $2 million over 25 years. Every year, the solar PV arrays currently installed are projected to reduce the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø carbon footprint by 4,116 Tons of CO2, the emissions reduction equivalent to removing 802 cars from the roads or 420,121 gallons of gasoline burned.
Learn more by visiting Sustainability's Solar Tour website.