The Waltham, Massachusetts school is partnering with EOS Ventures for a power purchase agreement. In the PPA, EOS builds and owns the solar array, selling electricity to Brandeis. Because of tax incentives and rebates, EOS' solar-generated power will cost less than fossil fuel-sourced electricity.
Bill Kanzer, director of marketing for solar panel installer Alteris, says that the PPA is "similar" to Brandeis' mainstream electricity purchases.
Janna Cohen-Rosenthal, sustainability coordinator at Brandeis, added that Brandeis students "were the ones who pushed us to look at this kind of financing model."
The solar power system "will be enough for about 10 percent of the [Gosman Center's] energy use," Cohen-Rosenthal said. Brandeis' Climate Action Plan has the ultimate objective of making the university carbon-neutral by 2050. In the short term - by 2015 - Brandeis hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below their 2008 levels.
The school's new solar power installation should contribute materially to that goal.
