A New Jersey school that serves the needs of special education students has completed an infrastructure project that included a roof restoration, a newly paved parking lot and a solar installation on its rooftop and a solar carport. This multi-pronged project was made possible for The Center School through an innovative partnership with Standard Solar, a recognized leader in the ownership, development, operation and funding of commercial and community solar assets.

"The Center School wanted to reduce its carbon footprint and serve as a positive example of environmental stewardship to its students and the community, but its yearly budget was fully allocated, making it financially challenging to provide a new roof and pave the school's parking lot," explained Daryl Pilon, Director of Business Development, Standard Solar. "We were able to work with them to finance all the improvement projects they'd planned utilizing the solar project, which included adding solar to their roof and the parking lot."

A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Standard Solar covered the costs of the solar project, roof restoration and parking lot paving. The 611-kilowatt combination rooftop and carport project is projected to save the school a minimum of $30K annually. Standard Solar owns and will operate and maintain the solar rooftop and canopy system for the PPA term.

"We just celebrated our school's 50th Anniversary this past school year, as the construction was being done," stated Dr. Ronald P. Rinaldi, Executive Director, The Center School. "The timing of our initiative to teach positive environmental stewardship to our students and our community as we plan for another 50 years was perfect. In fact, our local township, the Franklin Township Environmental Commission, awarded our school the 2021 Environmental Stewardship Award for this project."

"As a leader in our industry, it is vital that we support solar projects of all shapes and sizes and be creative with how we make projects a reality for our partners," said Pilon. "We're thrilled to partner with The Center School to finance the solar and infrastructure upgrades so they can generate power from a sustainable renewable energy source, and benefit from lower-cost, clean power for years to come."

For 50 years, The Center School has served the needs of special education students in New Jersey.

Standard Solar | standardsolar.com