Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, Pa., has received a $500,000 state grant to help build what will be Pennsylvania’s largest solar array on a higher-education campus.
The school says the 2.6-megawatt DC ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system will create an educational living-learning laboratory right on campus.
The grant from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority will result in a solar installation that has the capacity to supply more than 20 percent of Elizabethtown College’s annual electricity needs.
Situated on 10 acres owned by the college in Mount Joy Township, the array will be owned and operated by solar power developer Community Energy and is expected to produce more than 3 million kWh per year—enough to power the equivalent of nearly 300 homes.
The array is scheduled to begin operation this winter.
“We are very proud and appreciative of the collaboration among the College, Community Energy, Mount Joy Township, Elizabethtown Borough, the PA Department of Environmental Protection and the PA Energy Development Authority to make this project a reality,” says Robert Wallett, the College’s vice president for administration and finance.
