University Breaks Ground on Second Solar Array, Aiming to Double Renewable Generation

The Office of Sustainability broke ground last week on a 1.4-megawatt expansion to the university's solar generation capacity, sited on a reclaimed field adjacent to the Forge Recreation Center. Once complete, the installation will roughly double the output of the original Founders Solar Array, which came online in 2021 behind the old maintenance yard.

“The first array proved the concept and paid for a good chunk of itself faster than our own projections said it would,” said the university's director of sustainability. “This one is sized to actually move the needle on the 2045 carbon-neutrality goal, not just demonstrate that we can do it.”

The $3.1 million project is funded through a state renewable-energy grant, a utility rebate program, and the continuation of the student-approved green fee that helped finance the original array. An Environmental Science capstone group that has audited the first array's performance data every spring since 2022 will take on monitoring the new installation as well once it comes online, expected in time for the fall 2027 semester.

The university's most recent sustainability report put campus greenhouse gas emissions about eighteen percent below their 2010 baseline; sustainability staff project the new array alone will account for several additional percentage points once it reaches full output.

Contact: Office of University Communications, news@uwporterfalls.edu