With students returning to class for the year, environmental activists are encouraging school districts to consider more energy-efficient buildings. PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center says this can be achieved by using solar energy.
In a new report, the statewide nonprofit group found that Pennsylvania schools could save a combined $342 million by switching to solar. Statewide, schools’ use of solar energy could power 187,000 homes annually and make an environmental impact equal to removing almost 300,000 vehicles from the road.
Schools in Lehigh and Northampton Counties alone could reduce carbon dioxide pollution by almost 25,000 tons and save more than $32.5 million. They could power approximately 9,000 homes by using solar.
Lehigh County ranks tenth in Pennsylvania in terms of solar capacity and electricity generation potential. Northampton County ranks fourteenth on that list. The flat and unshaded rooftops of the nearly 190 schools in the two counties would be the perfect spot for solar panels, says Faran Savitz, Zero Waste Advocate with PennEnvironment.
The Bethlehem Area School District currently has solar panels at five of its schools. Bethlehem Area School Board member Dr. Karen Pooley highlighted the investments the district has already made in energy efficiency at a press conference on Wednesday, including solar panels and electric buses.
The Allentown Area School District began planning a $25 million solar installation project in 2024. The East Penn School District also started looking into solar power last year in hopes of offsetting electricity costs.
Speakers at Wednesday’s press conference called on local, state, and federal officials to renew the statewide Solar for Schools grant program, restore federal solar incentives that were recently repealed, and implement Governor Josh Shapiro’s state energy plan.
