The latest PV addition would make CSU number one in university solar power, a position currently held by Los Angeles Southwest College, according to a ranking by the Denver-based Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Reported by Staff

Colorado State University wears the Green label with zeal, as anyone familiar with its renewable energy efforts the last few years can attest. But the school’s latest move to add 3.3
megawatts of solar power to its Fort Collins campus is more
than a feel good story for students and faculty, according to Brian Chase, CSU’s facilities director.

“It’s not only a commitment to renewable energy - we are
‘The Green University’ - but in this particular case, it makes excellent economic sense.”

With a 2-megawatt rating, CSU already has the third largest solar university installation in the country, built under a 2008 call for new facilities sought by Xcel Energy.  That installation generates roughly 10 percent of the energy needs of the Foothills Campus.  The latest PV addition would make it number one, a position currently held by Los Angeles Southwest College, according to a ranking by the Denver-based Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

The university is partnering with a private company and Xcel Energy on the 14-acre farm, and once operational,  the utility will sell the power back to CSU at a fixed price for 20 years. It will save at least several million dollars, predicted Chase, and even more if electricity rates rise or if a carbon tax is implemented.

If everything goes according to plan, the university will seek official approval of the project from Larimer County and begin generating power by Christmas. One difference with the new project are the fixed panels which will be incorporated into the project. They are less costly to buy and install compared to arrays that gradually move while tracking the sun across the sky.

CSU might not hold the title of largest university solar farm for long, Paul Rowland told The Coloradoan. His organization (AASHE) tracks universities’ efforts to reduce their environmental impact, and said schools across the country are discovering that prospective students and their parents are asking how green institutions are.

In fact, a recent survey of prospective students and their parents by the Princeton Review indicated that two-thirds thought a university’s approach to sustainability would play a role in their decision to attend, he added.

It is certainly a recruiting tool for students. Colleges are realizing that they have to have something to show for it,” Rowland said. “I think it’s very real. I don’t think it’s a flash in the pan.”

A plus for CSU is its ability to expand solar operations on unused land adjacent to the university, a luxury not readily available to many other colleges and universities. How large the solar farm will eventually be is not clear.

A 8.6 megawatt farm in the San Luis Valley is  the state’s largest current solar operation, but that could be surpassed by a bigger farm under development, according to Xcel Energy. With the recent passage of the  renewable energy mandate which requires Xcel to generate 30% of its power generation from renewables, CSU’s latest contribution will undoubtedly help meet that figure.