Wilson Elementary School in Phoenix, Ariz., is the sixth school in Arizona to install a solar system. The 80-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) array, which San Francisco-based SPG Solar designed to adjust to the pitch of Wilson’s new roof, consists of 300 Kyocera panels delivering more than 108,014 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, or enough to power 169 area homes.

The system not only produces electricity to offset purchases from regional utility Arizona Public Service (APS), but does so during peak use hours when the utility’s electricity costs are traditionally higher than at night. In addition, the system – with an expected operational lifetime of more than a quarter century – reduces greenhouse gases by about 1,939 metric tons over its lifetime. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations, this is equivalent to removing 355 cars from American roads.

In Deer Valley, the school district started planning for its solar array atop Deer Valley High School in Glendale late in March. When completed, the $6-million, 1-megawatt system – which supplies about 70 percent of the school’s electricity needs – will become APS’ largest single commercial system, though another 2 megawatts of solar power spread among the buildings on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus could, after upgrades, supply as much as 7 megawatts of solar power.

At La Cima Middle School in Tucson, a 9.45-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array – consisting of 54 Solarworld 175-watt panels and 3 Xantrex inverters – was installed by Tucson Electric under its Green Watts program in February of 2008. The system, which produces 15,000 kilowatt-hours per year, is enough to power two small homes and prevents 10 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The PV system also serves as a teaching tool for La Cima’s science curriculum.

In March of this year, Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley was the first in the state to receive a grant from local electric utility Salt River Project, or SRP, that will allow Arizona-based design-build solar firm American Solar Electric to install 20 rooftop solar panels on one of the school’s maintenance buildings used to charge a fleet of electric vehicles.

And in Phoenix, the William R. Sullivan Elementary School got an Earth Day 2009 makeover as part of Earth Day Network’s “Green Schools Campaign” in the form of a nine-panel, 2.1-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system that will reportedly save the school district over $120,000 and 166,800 pounds of carbon dioxide during its 30-year lifetime. Installed by Phoenix-based solar design/build firm PerfectPower Network, the system is fully modular, meaning up to 18 more panels can be added, for a system size of 6.2 kilowatts, without significant infrastructure improvements.

Six schools in a state whose solar radiation values range from 6.00 to 8.30 megajoules per square meter (Whr/Sq M) per day, the highest in the nation, doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment, but SRP’s “Solar for Schools” program will likely change that with its U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-mandated program offering selected schools a solar PV system of up to 10 kilowatts on a 10-year maintenance contract with an on-screen monitoring program and educational materials, plus solar training for educators as part of the package.

Solar for Schools is part of an agreement SRP made with the EPA in 2008 to resolve Clean Air Act violations at SRP’s Coronado Generating Station. As a result, SRP is committed to installing $2 million worth of fixed, flat panel PV systems on two schools in the vicinity of the Coronado Generating Station and at least two schools in the metropolitan Phoenix area, with an installation deadline of December 31, 2010.