Solar on schools: A look at North Carolina’s great untapped potential

A new report says North Carolina's public schools could put solar panels on a lot more rooftops than they currently do, but financing and state rules are getting in the way. Researchers found the state's pre-K through 12th grade school buildings have over 1,300 football fields' worth of roof space suited to solar. Covering about 90% of the state's public schools could generate enough electricity to power nearly 150,000 typical homes a year and cut carbon pollution equal to taking almost 280,000 cars off the road.

Schools make good solar hosts because they're empty at night, on weekends, and over summer, so extra power can flow back to the grid. Paired with batteries, panels can also keep a school running during storms, turning it into a community backup power center. The report notes schools spend roughly $8 billion a year nationally on energy, and locking in solar power now is like buying 25 years of electricity at today's price, freeing up money for things like teacher pay or building repairs.

The catch: North Carolina is one of only six states that won't allow "power purchase agreements," a financing option where a third party owns the panels and sells the school the power, often the cheapest way for a school to go solar. The state's utilities also no longer offer net metering, the credit system for extra power sent to the grid. The report recommends the state bring back net metering, create low-interest financing for school solar projects, and allow community solar arrangements. None of this changes anything for individual homeowners directly, but it reflects the same financing and utility-rule hurdles that also affect home solar in the state.