Johns Hopkins University Installs 818-kW System on 7 Buildings

Johns Hopkins University recently brought online an 818-kW solar PV system on seven buildings on three of its campuses across Baltimore. Together these systems represent one of the largest university rooftop solar arrays in the country and the largest array in Baltimore City, Md.

Eastlight developed this project and owns the systems. RGS Energy planned, engineered and installed the systems. To finance the project, Eastlight executed an innovative long-term Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA) that allows the university to reduce its electricity costs without making any capital investment or assuming any responsibility for managing the system.

David Caldwell, a managing partner at Eastlight, said, “We are very pleased to be working with Johns Hopkins, a true leader in environmental sustainability, on the development of its first solar energy projects. By utilizing a Power Purchase Agreement, we are giving the University the opportunity to generate economic and environmental value from an underutilized asset with no capital investment.”

Bill Yearsley, President of RGS Energy, the Commercial Division of Real Goods Solar, commented, “Johns Hopkins University is at the forefront of institutions recognizing that self-generating clean electric power is the wave of the future. RGS Energy’s 34-plus years of experience prepared us to install this large system while preserving the beauty of the University campus and protecting the integrity of its older infrastructure.”

Spearheaded by the Johns Hopkins University Office of Sustainability, this project is a key initiative in the University’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions by using existing real estate to generate clean, solar electric power. The new systems are expected to generate 950,925 kWh of power in the first year alone and to mitigate 35,457,296 lbs of carbon dioxide over the life of the system.