Meridian High School’s Solar Power Arrives This Summer
By Jeff Peterson
The long-awaited installation of solar panels on Meridian High School’s will occur this summer, delivering a significant part of the electric power needed to operate the building and taking a step toward the City goal of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its operations.
Project Schedule and Description
The current schedule is for Madison Energy Investments to mobilize the project in late June and construct the project over the summer. In all, Madison will install 818 panels occupying 65,000 square feet of roof space that are projected to supply roughly 20 percent of all the power used by Meridian High School. This drawing shows the density of panels on the roof:
On Meridian High School’s roof, 818 solar panels are projected to supply roughly 20 percent of the school’s power needs.
Ben Hunter, executive vice president at Madison Energy Investments, noted: “We’re a Virginia-based company, as is our developer partner Sun Tribe Solar. It’s exciting and rewarding to be part of the team putting solar on schools across Virginia, particularly here in Falls Church down the road from our company headquarters in Vienna.”
The project is being implemented through a 25-year “power purchase agreement” with SunTribe Solar. The Falls Church City Public Schools (FCCPS) will pay a fixed cost for power from the solar panel system over 25 years of $0.131 per kWh and Sun Tribe Solar will pay to install and maintain the system. In addition to the benefits of renewable power, FCCPS expects to save money over the term of the agreement.
FCCPS Chief Operating Officer Kristen Michael said, “FFCPS is committed to sustainability and the investment in solar at Meridian is something we are very proud of. We are excited that the project is moving forward.”
Connection to Curriculum
In addition to providing Meridian renewable electric power, the project will include a power production meter that will go to a portal that the school can access. The portal’s data can be used by students and applied to the curriculum in areas including math and social studies. Resources for applying solar data to school curriculum are available from several sources, including Solar for All Schools, and Vision Solar.
Meridian’s Other Energy-Efficient Features
The solar power project adds to a long list of environmental sustainability features at Meridian that have qualified the building for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. Some key energy-saving initiatives at the new building include:
Geothermal and high-efficiency Variable Refrigerant Flow (VFR) units for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
High-performance building envelope (see an explanation)
LED lights throughout the building
Net zero ready, meaning a building designed to be ultra-efficient with the goal of being net-zero energy in the future.
Sustainability at Meridian High School is important to students, and some of the school’s sustainability elements were described in a recent article in The Lasso by Kylie Moffatt. The new solar panels mark another step toward net-zero energy, following the 18 solar panels installed on George Mason High School in 2008 by student James Peterson.
Solar on Other City and School Buildings
In addition to Meridian High School, the City is considering deploying solar panels on other City-owned buildings but has not yet funded the projects. (The latest Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, describes the potential work.) A total of eight systems are being considered. That would provide about 7 percent of the overall electricity needs for those buildings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from City operations, diversify the City's energy sources, and generate more than $1 million in cost savings over the 25-year lifespan of the systems.
The schedule outlined in the CIP assumes a four-year deployment schedule:
FY 2024: Aurora House and Jessie Thackrey
FY 2025: Community Center and Oak Street Elementary
FY 2026: City Hall, Mary Riley Styles Library, and Mount Daniel Elementary
FY2027 - Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School
Estimated cost for completing system installations totals $822,250. The Falls Church Climate Action network will encourage the City to provide the funds to make this investment a reality.