School Board Ready to Sign Contracts for Solar Program
The Fairfax County School Board voted unanimously yesterday to move forward with a solar program that will allow FCPS to purchase renewable energy with little or no upfront or operational costs. The Board authorized FCPS leadership to negotiate, execute and administer project contracts with approved solar contractors.
The Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) program will install solar panels on school buildings with the goal of reducing FCPS’ greenhouse gas emissions and electricity costs.
As part of each project-specific agreement, one of the selected solar contractors will install and operate solar panels on school facilities. FCPS and/or county entities will purchase the generated electricity at a fixed rate over a fixed term of 25-28 years.
The motion to approve the solar facilities contract was introduced by the Board’s Dranesville District Representative Elaine Tholen. “This program will enable us to quickly begin an environmentally-friendly program that will help us keep utility costs low,” said Tholen. “It will also bring us one step closer to the proposed Joint Environmental Task Force goal, that we share with Fairfax County, to become carbon neutral (net zero carbon dioxide emissions).”
Tholen also recognized Solar on the Schools, an FCPS student group. She said, “They have encouraged the Board for years to move in this direction. We thank them for their work and for the fact that we are ready to sign contracts and move ahead with this exciting project.”
Solar contractors will be responsible for designing, permitting, installing, operating, and maintaining rooftop and/or canopy-mounted solar panels and associated equipment.
FCPS and Virginia-based Sigora Solar are in discussions to begin the solar program at three sites: Annandale High School, Hayfield Secondary School and Robinson Secondary School. No actual designs or project drawings are available at this time.
As part of an ongoing partnership with Fairfax County to expand the use of solar energy in schools, vendor contracts were announced in December 2019.
The original county request for proposal (RFP) for the FCPS solar program, the following 87 sites were included:
Annandale
Beech Tree
Belle View
Belvedere
Bucknell
Cameron
Canterbury Woods
Cedar Lane
Chantilly
Cherry Run
Chesterbrook
Clermont
Coates
Crestwood
Cunningham Park
Edison
Fairfax
Fairfax Villa
Falls Church
Flint Hill
Forestdale
Franconia
Franklin Middle
Freedom Hill
Frost
Garfield
Graham Road
Great Falls
Greenbriar East
Gunston
Haycock
Hayfield Secondary
Hunt Valley
Hunters Woods
Hybla Valley
Irving
Jackson
Justice
Keene Mill
Kent Gardens
Key
Kings Park
Lake Anne
Lane
Langley
Laurel Hill
Lemon Road
Little Run
Longfellow
Lynbrook
Marshall
Marshall Road
Mason Crest
Mount Eagle
Newington Forest
North Springfield
Oakton Elementary
Ravensworth
Robinson
Rolling Valley
Sandburg
Silverbrook
Sleepy Hollow
South County Middle School
South Lakes
Spring Hill
Springfield Estates
Stenwood
Stratford Landing
Sunrise Valley
Terra Centre
Terraset
Thoreau
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Timber Lane
Vienna
West Springfield Elementary
Westbriar
Westgate
Westlawn
Weyanoke
White Oaks
Whitman
Wolftrap
Woodlawn
Woodley Hills
Woodson
For more information, contact the FCPS Office of Communication and Community Relations at 571-423-1200.###
