University of Richmond installs solar array

Published April 19, 2016 by Jessica Sabbath

The University of Richmond unveiled Tuesday a solar-array project that should create enough electricity to power a dorm.

The 205-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array includes 749 panels covering 22,000 square feet of the rooftop of UR’s Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness.

Some of the panels are “bifacial,” allowing them to collect direct solar energy and ambient energy from the back. Secure Futures says this is the first commercial application in the U.S. of these types of solar panels, which can generate 25 percent more electricity.

The installation is being done under a solar power purchase agreement (PPA), which was created by the Virginia legislature in 2013 to allow customers within Dominion Virginia Power’s territory to purchase renewable energy from a third party.

Secure Futures will sell the electricity generated by the array to the university at a set rate over a 20-year period.