Greenwich Academy

Solar Photovoltaic

System Size (kW DC): 27.06

Expected Annual Electricity Generation (kWh): 26,582

Click here to view live energy data from this system!

Sharing Virtues of Solar Energy

Greenwich Academy, a private day school for girls in pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade, is committed to practicing responsible environmental stewardship, according to its head of school. And it is practicing what it preaches. In 2008, the school installed a 27.06-kilowatt solar array on the new roof of the Philander Button Hall Middle School building as part of a larger building renovation and expansion project.

Capitalizing on the newly installed solar panels, the school has placed an information display regarding solar energy generation and Greenwich Academy’s solar photovoltaic system in the lobby of the middle school building. Thanks to an interactive data monitoring system connected to the school’s solar array, real-time performance data from the academy’s 120-panel array can now be accessed by students and teachers. Additionally, the academy has incorporated lessons about solar energy generation into its science curriculum and has helped to establish “green” committees, involving students and faculty, in both the middle and upper schools.

The head of school said that with the decision to renovate and create a “green” middle school, the academy created the opportunity to achieve an outstanding level of integration among the curriculum, values and mission of the school. She noted that the academy’s curriculum is grounded in teaching students about the natural world and their relationship to it.