Throughout the last 10 years, the Plymouth Public Schools (PPS) district in southeastern Massachusetts had been taking steps that would eventually earn it top honors for its environmental initiatives. What started with energy conservation that parlayed into energy-efficient upgrades and retrofits—including LED lighting, web-based thermostat controls and energy monitoring—has been topped off with 10.6 megawatt (MW) DC of generated energy from four different solar photovoltaic systems.
Together, these projects will help supply the 10.5 million kilowatt-hours of energy the district uses, which encompasses 13 pre-K through 12th grade schools and various administrative buildings. The additional energy will satisfy most of the needs of Plymouth’s public buildings.