University of Richmond
OP-6: Clean and Renewable Energy

The University of Richmond matches 100 percent of its electricity needs with a single solar power source. Spider Solar is a 20-megawatt solar energy facility that replenishes the electric grid with the same amount of renewable solar energy that the campus uses to run day-to-day operations. The 47,000-panel solar array began operating on Dec. 31, 2020, and will produce 41,000 megawatt-hours of solar energy annually, equivalent to the annual electricity use of 5,000 homes. Spider solar will allow University of Richmond to eliminate Scope 2 emissions, putting us in a great position to aim for carbon neutrality.”

Spider Solar is located in Spottsylvania County, about an hour north of campus. It was built by sPower and is operated by AES as part of a utility scale power purchase agreement. Spider Solar is UR’s second power purchase agreement. In 2016, the university constructed the first solar array in the Commonwealth under Virginia’s PPA pilot program, installing 749 solar panels on the roof of the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness.

In Spring 2016, the University of Richmond completed installation of a 204.8 kW solar array on the roof of the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. 749 panels cover roughly 22,000 square feet of the rooftop. 76% of the panels are bifacial, allowing them to collect direct solar energy from the front and ambient energy from the back. The array also utilizes two different kinds of inverters and the two types of panels are also installed on both gravel and white TPO roofs. All of these factors enable classes to use the Weinstein Center array as a living lab, conducting research on how different types of panels, roofing, and inverters impact energy production.

This solar photovoltaic system is designed to genrated 283,400 kilowatt hours of electricity in 2017, exceeding it's expected capacity by 17%.

University of Richmond partnered with Secure Futures, a solar energy development company, under the Virginia Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Pilot Program to install this array. According to the PPA, Secure Futures will install, maintain, and own the solar photovoltaic array on top of the Weinstein Center.

Photovoltaic solar panels are installed on apartment building serving one apartment. The array is capable of providing 2kW under ideal solar conditions and is estimated to produce 2 kWh annually. Each of the ten solar panels in the array has a micro inverter that isolates it from the rest of the array, which is beneficial during overcast conditions.

Using eGrid SRVC: https://www.epa.gov/egrid/power-profiler#/
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2020 Virginia Integrated Resource Plan
https://cdn-dominionenergy-prd-001.azureedge.net/-/media/pdfs/global/2020-va-integrated-resource-plan.pdf?la=en&rev=9f349ea1db1c4dc19855d70a8519c9d5