{"id":7579,"date":"2025-05-05T15:08:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:08:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/?p=7579"},"modified":"2025-05-05T15:08:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T22:08:47","slug":"the-evergreen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/the-evergreen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evergreen State College Students Lead Largest Solar Expansion on Olympia Campus to Create Clean Energy and Savings"},"content":{"rendered":"

A solar-powered campus is a long-held vision of The Evergreen State College<\/a>. Students have guided clean energy projects at the college for two decades, and the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new rooftop solar panel array means the college\u2019s latest student-driven solar effort is now an energy-producing reality.<\/p>\n

The exciting solar photovoltaic project is the largest of its kind in the college\u2019s history. Installed on the roof of the Olympia campus\u2019s Covered Recreation Pavilion, affectionately nicknamed the Thunderdome, the solar panels will generate significant financial and energy savings for the college. Students drove the project from beginning to end, learning about clean energy and project implementation along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great resource in the college community,\u201d says Evergreen\u2019s Center for Climate Action and Sustainability Assistant Director Michael Joseph.<\/p>\n

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The October 29, 2024 ribbon-cutting celebrated the launch of the latest student-led solar project at The Evergreen State College. The solar array on the Covered Recreation Pavilion roof is the largest of its kind in the university\u2019s history. Photo credit: Nancy Krier<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Student-Funded Solar Project Creates Energy Savings and Shapes a Sustainable Future at The Evergreen State College<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Photovoltaic solar panels use solar cells to convert energy from the sun into electricity. A solar array is a collection of multiple panels. The new solar array contains 196 Q-Cell Peak Duo 480-watt solar panels for a total size of 94 kilowatts. It will be capable of producing approximately 99,300 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity for the college each year.<\/p>\n

Olympia Community Solar<\/a>\u00a0Executive Director, Mason Rolph, is an Evergreen alum whose nonprofit organization provided support and technical assistance. Rolph says the electricity from the college\u2019s pavilion solar project will save about $13,000 in yearly energy costs, and over the estimated 25-year project lifespan the college will save at least $440,000 in energy expenses. \u201cPer dollar, what you can get for solar is extraordinary,\u201d says Rolph. These savings will free up college resources for additional student support and services.<\/p>\n

This project came to life because of the student-led\u00a0Clean Energy Committee<\/a>\u2019s financial support. The committee manages income from the Clean Energy Fund, which is a voluntary fee that students created to support clean energy projects on campus and offset electricity used by Evergreen through renewable energy credits. The remaining funds are allocated to student, staff, and faculty projects geared towards reducing the campus carbon footprint. The committee awarded approximately $264,000 to finance the pavilion solar panels, college staff time to steward the project to completion, and educational programing.<\/p>\n

At the October 29, 2024 ribbon-cutting, Evergreen President John Carmichael joined with Olympia Community Solar, solar installers\u00a0MAD Energy NW<\/a>, students, faculty, staff, and the community to celebrate. Carmichael thanked the students for establishing their Clean Energy Fund 20 years ago. \u201cIt covers 100% of the project we are initiating today,\u201d Carmichael explained. In addition, this solar project will reduce the college\u2019s carbon footprint by 88 thousand pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, equivalent to planting 723 trees every year, or not driving 111,000 miles.<\/p>\n

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A worker installs a new solar panel on the roof of the Covered Recreation Pavilion at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Photo courtesy: Olympia Community Solar<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Campus Pavilion Solar Panels Provide Students Real-Life Experience with Clean Energy Projects<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Evergreen students originally conceived the pavilion solar project in 2016, when undergraduates Matthew Strickland and Matt Booth furthered a faculty question to assess and design a solar array installation. However, the timing was not quite right for the project, and they instead moved forward with a different solar project on the Tacoma campus.<\/p>\n

The original project resurfaced in 2023, when a workgroup including Master of Environmental Studies students Emma Wright and Keira Jensen unearthed the original plans in collaboration with staff from the Climate Center and Office of Sustainability. The stars aligned this time, aided by a new roof on the pavilion that provided excellent solar exposure. \u201cThis project was able to move so fast because past students did all the baseline work that students [today] could work off of,\u201d says Olympia Community Solar Outreach Director Lana Rae Jarvis.<\/p>\n

Joseph adds that students not only revived and funded the pavilion solar project, but also obtained real-life experience in moving the effort forward. For example, the process provided professional work life benefits by teaching students how to write, present and weigh proposals submitted to the Clean Energy Committee. \u201cUpon graduating, they can say, \u2018I know how to do this,\u2019\u201d Joseph explains. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of an awesome thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright agrees, saying that students will carry the experience gained from their involvement in the solar project\u2019s design process into their professional lives. \u201cIt was amazing to get to see this project through from beginning to end,\u201d says Wright, who helped secure funding for the pavilion project as a student and then witnessed its construction and installation in a post-graduation summer internship with the college.<\/p>\n

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Students and others watch the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Covered Recreation Pavilion, also known as the Thunderdome, on The Evergreen State College campus in Olympia. Photo courtesy: Olympia Community Solar<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Students\u2019 Renewable Energy Funding Invests in Evergreen Campuses and the Planet<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Evergreen students have previously invested in clean energy through existing solar installations on the Daniel J. Evans Library and modular housing in Olympia, and on the Tacoma campus. Students have also funded renewable energy efforts like electric vehicles, the student-run Biodiesel Project, and the Bike Share Program. Visit\u00a0The Evergreen State College website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Evergreen State College<\/strong>
\n2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
\n360.867.6000<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published by Thurston Talk on April 3rd, 2025: https:\/\/www.thurstontalk.com\/2025\/04\/03\/the-evergreen-state-college-students-lead-universitys-largest-solar-expansion-on-olympia-campus-to-create-clean-energy-and-savings\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A solar-powered campus is a long-held vision of The Evergreen State College. Students have guided clean energy projects at the college for two decades, and the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony for … Leer m\u00e1s<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-media-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olysol.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}