Plans for the new Cross solar carport. A new solar carport is coming to Wilbur Cross High School as part of the city’s second wave of clean energy and sustainability efforts at New Haven public school parking lots. The Board of Education voted unanimously on Monday to approved a solar lease agreement with solar developer Greenskies Clean Energy for the 181 Mitchell Dr. lot. Monday’s approval comes after the school board voted in December to install solar arrays in the parking lots of Roberto Clemente Academy and Career High School. Meanwhile, last year, the city tapped Greenskies to build parking canopies containing nearly 1,000 solar panels at L.W. Beecher Museum Magnet School and Hill Central School. The city and Greenskies have also been building solar arrays on non-school sites like at the city’s old dump at 260 Middletown Ave. Carports at Bowen Field and East Shore Park are also underway as the Elicker administration looks to increase New Haven’s renewable energy supply. City Climate Sustainability Executive Director Steve Winter Winter presented the Cross solar lease agreement to the Board of Education’s Finance Operations (FO) Committee on July 7 in advance of Monday’s vote. The landfill project and the solar builds at Beecher and Hill Central so far have provided an estimated savings of over $130,000, Winter reported. Once the next wave of projects are completed — at Career, Cross, Bowen Field, East Shore Park, and phase two of the landfill — the annual revenue for all of the projects should be close to $250,000. Winter noted that the solar canopy planned for Cross has a 20 year lease, with future options to renew. Greenskies will own, repair, and maintain the equipment throughout the lease agreement. Now that the school district has agreed to the project, Greenskies has to work out an agreement United Illuminating (UI) to secure a long-term contract for how much it will sell the generated power for back to UI and the electric grid. The carport projects for Clemente, Bowen Field, and East Shore Park have leases approved by the city and school district and long-term agreements with UI for purchasing the solar-generated electricity; the next steps are permitting and designing. Winter said Greenskies should be able to start construction during the summer of 2027. Meanwhile, the solar projects for Career, Cross, and phase two at the city’s landfill are awaiting permits, design, and the long-term agreement with UI. Winter said construction could start as soon as 2027 but may be pushed to summer 2028. Once complete, the solar canopy in Cross’ parking lot will be roughly half-a-megawatt in size, Winter said. The revenue it generates will go into the city’s general fund. The project will require the removal of six trees from the parking lot. Greenskies has agreed to compensate the city to replant new ones nearby to make up for the lost tree coverage.  Board of Education President OrLando Yarbrough asked how the implementation of the other solar-carport projects have been going. Winter said the only minor issue that’s come up so far has been one panel coming lose during a winter storm. Once flagged, Greenskies repaired the panel. Besides that, the projects are “functioning as expected,” he said. “At the moment we’re getting power at about half the cost from those solar arrays,” Winter added. Yarbrough then asked what direct benefit the solar canopy will have for Wilbur Cross High School. Winter said that, while the previous projects at Beecher and Hill Central generate a part of the electricity used by those two schools in particular, the new Cross canopy will not be directly connected to the high school. Instead, it’s primary benefit will be generating revenue for the city. Winter noted that Beecher and Hill Central do not have roof-top solar systems while Cross and Career do. Another reason the new projects look different from the previous school carports is because the incentive structure of the Non-Residential Renewable Energy Solutions (NRES) program has shifted to leases rather than power-purchase agreements. That’s why the city has now been structuring its new projects as leases. Cross’ solar carport is estimated to generate $60,000 a year. In terms of direct benefits, Winter said the canopy will provide users of the parking lot with shade. It will also protect from direct weather. Wilcox and fellow Board of Education member Andrea Downer each emphasized that Greenskies and the city should provide teaching opportunities and a real-time energy dashboard for New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students to learn from. In response to the Board’s concerns about what benefits will come to NHPS directly for leasing its property, Winter said that, next week, the city, the school district, and Greenskies will meet to discuss offering a curriculum associated with the city’s solar canopies aimed at helping NHPS students better understand how clean energy works and the math and science behind the projects. They also plan to discuss potential internship opportunities for students through Greenskies’ North Haven office. Yarbrough concluded by recommending that, because there will be no financial benefit directly to Cross, the city should put together annual or quarterly reports to show how much revenue the school district property is generating for the city. Wilcox noted that the “city having the funds indirectly benefits us.” Greenskies Land Acquisition Vice President Ryan Linares also joined the July 7 FO meeting to answer the committee members’ questions about the proposed lease agreement. He said that all maintenance in and around the solar array will be Greenskies’ responsibility. The company will also give the school 24-to-48-hour notice when it has to access the property. Snow removal is included in regular maintenance; he added that the canopy will have snow guards placed on it to prevent ice or snow sliding off the panels. If large snow events of 1-2 feet occur, Greenskies uses a dump truck to clear and haul the snow off the property. “We’re not going to put that burden of snow piles back onto the city or to the Board of Ed property by putting it into the parking lot,” he said. In response to a question about whether the community was brought into the conversation about the project, Winter said he met with Wilbur Cross Principal Matt Brown and the East Rock community management team. Wilcox asked NHPS Chief of School Operations Paul Whyte if NHPS has had to deal with any impacts to bus traffic or snow removal due to the existing canopies. Whyte said there were no issues besides a few loose screws that were left in after construction and that were caught in some car tires. Linares said Greenskies would build the solar carport only during the summer months, primarily for the digging and mechanical work. The electrical work, which wouldn’t impact the school or parking, could happen during the school year. Cross Roof Repairs En Route In addition to the solar carport, Cross will also soon get a new roof — thanks to the district receiving a grant through the state Department of Administrative Services which will provide funding for a complete roof replacement at the city’s largest high school and at Truman School. Wilcox noted Monday that the roof over the school’s pool will also be replaced, which will allow the district to make repairs to the school’s pool, which has long been out of service. “We are in the midst of the legwork necessary to start the bidding process. We don’t have a timetable for the work itself, though the hope is to undertake it as soon as possible,” NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon said about the roof repairs. The post Solar Panels Approved For Cross Parking Lot appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less