Monday, October 05, 2009 at 11:56:03 AM - by Danny Vo

Prestigious Brandeis University, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, recently installed a 277-kilowatt Alteris solar electric system, one of the largest in the state. The solar array will be installed on the roof of the Gosman Athletic Center, according to university President Jehuda Reinharz, and provide 10 percent of the Center’s electricity needs.

Brandeis, a private research university with a liberal arts focus, was ranked as number 31 on a list of U.S. universities in 2009 by U.S. News and World Report. Forbes dubbed it number 30, and among the top 15 U.S. research universities the same year.

Founded in 1948 on the site of former Middlesex University, it is a multicultural learning center for both sexes named for the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis.

Wilton, Connecticut-based Alteris Renewables, the largest design-build renewable energy company in the Northeast providing turnkey solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions to business and industry, designed and installed the system as part of Brandeis’ plan to make the campus climate-neutral by 2050, with interim goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or GHGs, to 15 percent below 2008 levels by 2015.

Brandeis, whose “green” branding and operational initiatives include the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver standard Brandeis Shapiro Science Center, took advantage of the opportunities provided by Hancock-based EOS Ventures, an alternative energy facilitator which provides financial and feasibility tools for businesses interested in installing solar energy, including power purchase agreements (PPAs) and its ability to take advantage of federal government alternative energy incentives requiring a tax burden.

Brandeis officials chose the PPA option, buying electricity from EOS-owned solar panels rather than from Boston-based regional utility NStar – a move expected to save the university as much as $1 million over the 25-year lifetime of the system. The PPA also provides insurance against rising utility electricity rates. NStar is expected to open its rate case and ask for a rate hike in 2011. The request is estimated to be at least as much as that given National Grid, which got a 5.5 percent increase in June.

Brandeis’ 277-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 11.6 million pounds over its lifetime. This is the same amount of CO2 emissions associated with electricity use in 727 American homes during a single year.

Once the system is installed, a website will allow interested parties to track the electricity produced, its use, and the CO2 being prevented. The installation is in response to a challenge issued by Students for Environmental Action, or SEA, who in 2007 urged university presidents to sign the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment. Brandeis was one of the first of 200 members to sign and agree to the implied commitment to create a Climate Action Plan within two years of signing which would reduce GHGs on campus significantly and allow periodic reporting to the public.

Brandeis is one of several U.S. universities and colleges turning to solar energy to reduce emissions, reduce the impact of rising electricity bills, and decrease their carbon footprints. These include Arizona State University (3.3-megawatts installed, aiming for 10), Auburn University (16.56 kilowatts), Colorado State University (2 megawatts), Harvard University (500 kilowatts), the University of Hawaii’s College of Business (4.5 kilowatts), the University of Vermont (5.7 kilowatts).