Solar at Tufts

Tufts’ earliest clean energy installation dates back to 1999 with 500 Watts of photovoltaics on Fairmont House, a small campus residence hall. In 2000, a supplemental solar thermal system was installed at Schmalz House, another small campus residence hall. In 2006, Tufts’ residence hall, Sophia Gordon Hall, included a solar thermal supplemental domestic hot water system and a 23.8 kW photovoltaic system. In 2014, a 99 kW solar array was added to Dowling Hall, generating over 100,000 kWh annually. After a 2010 feasibility study of Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton showed that wind power was not practical, the university pursued other renewable options. Through PowerOption’s Large Scale Solar program, two ground-mounted photovoltaic systems were installed on the Grafton campus in 2017.

Tufts currently maintains solar arrays on multiple campuses that make the power grid greener and help Tufts save money. Solar generated power is about 60 percent less expensive than electricity from National Grid (Massachusetts utility company).

Tufts funds solar installations in three ways: capital expenditure, grants, and Power Purchase Agreements. Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) are contracts in which a developer funds the purchase and installation of a solar energy system, then sells the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) generated by that system. Typically in Massachusetts, these RECs are sold to the utility company so they can meet the state's renewable portfolio standard (RPS), which requires them to obtain a percentage of their electricity from qualifying renewable energy facilities. In all cases where Tufts funded a solar project through a PPA, Tufts did not retain the RECs and therefore cannot claim the greenhouse gas emissions reduction from those projects. Watch our solar energy webinar to hear more about how we use these three options at Tufts.

Keep reading to learn where each solar array at Tufts is located, when it was installed, how it was funded, and how much energy it produces.