Darlington Community School District held a Ribbon Cutting for the largest solar energy system of any k-12 school district in Wisconsin on June 1, 2016. Energizing the elementary and middle school buildings, the 156 kW rooftop solar PV system generates 20-30 percent of the electricity used by each.
Darlington School District’s goals were to provide hands on education to students and the community, promote clean energy and greenhouse gas reductions, and the wise use of natural, financial and social capital. They used innovative financing with co-ownership where a solar developer installed and operates the system for the first fifteen years, limiting the district’s up-front costs. A kiosk with real time energy production and savings read outs is at each school and linked on their website.
A snapshot of Darlington School District solar electricity generation and impact data as shown in real time on their website and kiosks. The more than 22,000 kilowatt hours of electricity generated from their solar system from one month, June 8 – July 8, was enough to power 91 houses for a week and earn approximately $2,217.