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Solar Array
Over the summer in 2022, a 310 kW solar array was installed on the East Campus Hillside of the university and connected to King Hall. The project builds on the experience from the
JMU
Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy
's
previous 10 kW solar array.
The replacement and expansion of the old solar photovoltaic system, as recommended by the JMU Clean Energy Working Group, was funded in part by the Virginia Department of Energy. The array includes pollinator habitat.
Some of the original hillside meadow was removed and other parts disturbed by the expansion of the array.
A new meadow was planted between the panels and around the expanded array to achieve shorter plant heights that would not shade the panels. Some species planted were recommended by the faculty, and some shade tolerant plants were selected that were beneficial to pollinators based on the Solar Site Native Plant Finder tool on the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Pollinator-Smart website.
Bird house, bee nest shelters, and educational signs were installed on a fence around the array. This site received certification in 2023 as a
Virginia Pollinator-Smart Solar Site
. JMU was the first university to receive this certification.