TO some extent this is old news, at least by point of fact that the solar PV project has been in the works for quite some time and was actually completed last fall in 2015, but it has been somewhat difficult to get actual numbers and stats on the project until a little sleuthing dug up the Kent Quarterly which was published in January. Kent School now officially joins the ranks of schools that are making a relatively big impart on slashing their electric and converting to solar. The project consists of three separate installations throughout the property – a 232 kilowatt array on the hockey rink, a 95 kilowatt array on the Magowan Field House and 55 kilowatt array on the Tennis House for a grand total of 382 kilowatts. It’s projected that the energy produced will cover about 50% of the buildings electrical consumption. The project was completed in partnership with EnterSolar and The TriState Solar Alliance. The School chose not to own the system outright and instead has a long term third party power purchase agreement in place.
The solar project compliments a wide range of other environmental initiatives food is locally sourced either from the campus farm or nearby Berkshire farms, more efficient lighting, waste, recycling and equipment upgrades.