Marathon Elementary School

Marathon Elementary School opened in the fall of 2018 and serves over 550 students in grades K-1.

Challenge

With over a million dollars budgeted for utilities a year, the Hopkinton Public School District sought a creative way to reduce their spending.

Solution

Hopkinton Public Schools (HPS) engaged Solect Energy to discuss adding solar to schools in the district. The recently constructed Marathon Elementary School seemed like a perfect fit as the roof was brand new. When constructed, a small amount of solar had been added to the school, so Solect evaluated what could be done to cover the entire rooftop. As a member of PowerOptions, HPS was able to add 260 kW of rooftop solar through a no-cost Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) from the Solect Energy and PowerOptions Partnership.

When evaluating the project, Solect Energy showed HPS how pairing the solar with energy storage could deliver even more financial savings for the district. Thrilled at the opportunity to further reduce its energy budget, HPS utilized a no-cost shared savings agreement to add a 222 kWh Tesla Powerpack battery to the project.

Results

The solar-plus-storage project is expected to reduce Hopkinton Marathon Elementary School’s energy bills by 75%, resulting in about $35,000 savings per year with no upfront cost. HPS expects to save nearly $1 million throughout the system’s life.

The Marathon Elementary School project is one of the first solar-plus-storage installations in Massachusetts financed through a no-cost shared savings agreement.