Lexington City Schools to go Solar under Solar Schools Initiative

On July 9, 2015 Lexington City Schools announced a formal agreement with Secure Futures LLC to install a 91.5-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the Lylburn Downing Middle School. The project will generate 25% of the annual electricity requirements for the middle school, and include an public monitoring system – displayed via a monitoring screen on the school campus – as well as an education center, with demonstration solar panels. Please see the press release here.

Under the 20-yr Power Purchase Agreement, Secure Futures will install, build, own, operate and maintain the solar photovoltaic system, and sell the electricity generated by the system to Lexington City Schools. The agreement represents the first of its kind for a public school located in the Shenandoah Valley, and will join Albemarle County Public Schools as among the first school districts under Secure Futures’ Solar Schools Initiative.

Project components:

• Capital investment by Lexington City Schools:     $0
• Projected average electricity savings per year:      $3,800
• Number of solar panels:                                             294 monocrystalline modules
• Percentage of annual electricity requirements:     25%
• Equivalent to the electricity requirements of:       10 U.S. homes