A new energy is coming to Southwest Virginia – and to Wytheville.
Secure Solar Futures, a Staunton, Virginia-based business, is part of a new partnership bringing solar power and jobs to the coalfields of Virginia and West Virginia. The company is also partnering with a Wythe County nonprofit, installing panels at HOPE.
The recently announced Coalfield Solar Fund – a partnership with the National Energy Education Development Project, Intuit and Secure Solar Futures – follows and expands on an earlier solar project for K-12 schools in Wise County. A multi-year grant will help the groups bring on-site solar power, job training and hands-on student learning opportunities to districts in Virginia and West Virginia that had been historically associated with coal mining.
“As part of our Climate Positive Commitment, Intuit has teamed up with Secure Solar Futures and the NEED Project to sustainably power prosperity in the coalfields regions of Virginia and West Virginia that have been powering the US for hundreds of years,” said Debbie Lizt, Head of Sustainability at Intuit. “We’re excited to help create new career pathways and educational opportunities in underserved communities, while also helping reduce carbon emissions in the transition to 21st century energy sources.”
Intuit is a founding partner and key funding contributor, and grants will be distributed by the NEED Project. Awards will be made up to $150,000 per institution to qualifying and successful K-12 public school and community college applicants to allow them to deploy solar power solutions and prepare local students for careers in renewable energy.
To qualify for the grant program, applicants must agree both to obtain on-site solar power systems through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Secure Solar Futures and to partner with the company to start and operate a program to train solar installers locally.
“One of the best ways to bring solar power to a community is to start with public schools and community colleges,” said Ryan McAllister, CEO of Secure Solar Futures. “Schools have large flat rooftops suitable to host larger solar arrays and can greatly benefit from the financial savings and educational opportunities that solar power offers. Best of all, schools and colleges can now go solar much more affordably than in the past thanks to newly available PPA structures.”
For the first phase of funding, applicants must submit a brief notice of interest form through the program’s website, www.coalfieldsolarfund.org, by April 17. The Fund will then evaluate each application to assess solar feasibility. If selected for the final round, additional application steps will be required for submission by July 1. Awards will be announced at the start of the new school year this fall. Applicants not awarded grants in the first phase will be entered on a waiting list for subsequent rounds of funding.
Though Wythe County isn’t in the footprint for the fund – the nearest county eligible is Tazewell in Virginia and Mercer in West Virginia – Secure Solar Futures has signed a 25-year agreement with HOPE Inc. for two rooftop solar arrays and an electric vehicle charging station at HOPE’s Wytheville headquarters.
“Stewardship is a core value of our organization. We strive to be good stewards of both donor contributions and the natural environment,” said HOPE Executive Director Andy Kegley. “Solar power will reduce our operating cost structure to help deliver our zero hunger and housing-first services more efficiently to more people in need while helping us use clean energy.”
To save money on installation costs, the organization will host a “solar barn raising” staffed by local career and technical education students and electrical apprentices under the supervision of trained solar installation professionals. The project is scheduled to be completed in the summer.
One rooftop solar array will be installed on the HOPE office building and the other will be located at the organization’s Open Door Café location. Together, both solar arrays will have a production capacity of about 58 kilowatts and will save HOPE $7,500 in energy costs per year, or more than $200,000 over the life of the solar agreement. Each year, solar panels at both HOPE locations will produce enough energy to power seven average Virginia homes and offset enough grid power to avoid 34.2 metric tons of carbon emissions, as much carbon as would be sequestered by 40.5 acres of forest.
“A re-roofing project gave us the opportunity to pursue solar power, which aligns with our value of both economic and environmental sustainability,” added Kegley. “Because of our highly visible location, we know this project will heighten awareness of solar energy.”
Along with solar panels, the Open Door Café will receive an electric vehicle charging station that will get its energy from the rooftop solar array. It will be one of the first EV chargers open to the public in Wytheville and is expected to bring more attention to HOPE’s “donate-what-you-can” restaurant.
Secure Solar Futures builds, owns, manages, and funds affordable Resilient Solar Solutions for hospitals, schools and businesses. The company combines state-of–the-art solar technology with an innovative business model to make commercial-scale solar readily affordable in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, helping customers to realize the economic, environmental, and community benefits of solar energy.
