Virginia's University of Richmond represent complete electrical power use with solar power

• The University of Richmond is now one of just two college establishments in the United States, and also the initial in the southeast, to match 100% of its electrical energy needs with a solitary solar power source.

UR's most current solar project, Spider Solar, is a brand-new 20-MW solar power center that replenishes the electric grid with the same quantity of renewable solar energy that the campus utilizes to run everyday operations.

The 47,000-panel solar array started operating on Dec. 31, 2020 and will create 41,000 MWh of solar energy every year-- equal to the yearly electrical power use of 5,000 houses.

" The college vowed in 2015 to accelerate its shift to low-carbon power while enhancing sustainable and also durable methods across our school," stated Rob Andrejewski, supervisor of sustainability. "With Spider Solar now on the internet, UR's greenhouse gas exhausts will certainly be 57% listed below where they were in 2009, putting us in an excellent setting to go for carbon neutrality."

Spider Solar, which lies in Spottsylvania County, was built and is run by sPower, which merged with AES' clean power service early this year.

" Through an acquisition power contract, AES will take care of the everyday procedures of the solar array, and UR consents to pay a set price for the renewable resource it creates," said Mark Detterick, UR's senior associate vice head of state of campus procedures. "By doing so, UR will certainly be straight in charge of presenting much more renewable resource onto the grid and also be able to far better anticipate the university's utility expenses, all without the expenses connected with owning or running a big solar facility."

Spider Solar is UR's 2nd power acquisition agreement. In 2016, the university created the initial solar array in the Commonwealth under Virginia's PPA pilot program, mounting 749 solar panels on the roof of the Weinstein Center for Recreation as well as Wellness.