Rooftop Solar Power Contract Approved For Annandale High School

ANNANDALE, VA — The Fairfax County School Board voted last Thursday to approve a pilot rooftop solar power purchase contract at Annandale High School, the first rooftop solar program in the county school system.

School officials expect the solar pilot program will be followed by similar solar initiatives at Chantilly High School, Hayfield and Robinson Secondary Schools, Thoreau Middle School, and Terraset and Mason Crest Elementary Schools.

“Moving this pilot forward and committing to its expansion is essential to meeting the board’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality for all school division operations by 2040,” Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch, who sponsored the motion with fellow member Ricardy Anderson, said in a statement. “To address the climate crisis, every level of government must act. This vote further proves that our Board is committed to doing its part.”

Annandale High School was eyed by two separate vendors for the pilot program because of its overall solar viability based on its roof type and its roof age. A proposal by Inspun Solar, which was selected by Fairfax County Public Schools, will supply a significant portion of Annandale High School’s annual electricity requirements during the 25-year term of the contract.

FCPS's total payments to Ipsun Solar over the course of the 25-year power purchase agreement are estimated at $2.2 million, an amount representing energy cost savings ranging between $11,000 and $22,000 per year on average for the high school, according to the power purchase agreement.

Ipsun’s rooftop solar facilities at Annandale High School will be connected to Dominion Energy's electric distribution system, which will permit the transfer of the solar-generated electricity that is not immediately used at the high school to the utility company. Under a net metering arrangement, FCPS is expected to receive credits for all electricity produced at Annandale High School that is transferred to the utility’s distribution system.

In 2016, students at Madison High School formed a student-led group, “Solar on our Schools,” to press the school division to install solar panels at Fairfax County public schools. In the years since, dozens of students from the group have lobbied the Fairfax County School Board and Virginia General Assembly to support renewable energy.

The Fairfax County School Board then adopted a resolution in 2018 calling on FCPS's Facilities and Transportation Department to take advantage of clean energy options, including solar. In 2021, the school board approved the school division’s participation in Fairfax County’s solar program.