NMH’s Solar Photovoltaic Initiative

By Aaryaman Rathor ‘24

Photo from NMH Flickr

 In December 2017, NMH officially began the transition to go solar. Almost six years later, NMH electricity is now entirely powered by sustainable and renewable energy.

While almost everyone on the NMH campus has seen the long array of solar panels at the Lower Fields, not many people know that they are not used to power anything on campus. 

Around the same time NMH committed to solar energy, they leased the solar panel land to Borrego. The company uses NMH fields to power its infrastructure and set up the solar panels we see on campus.

This lease demonstrates NMH’s local initiative to increase renewable energy production. NMH has a lot of land, and the school was willing to make its land available for other economic agents for green power.

Pete Sniffen, a new Environmental Science teacher who will become NMH’s sustainability director starting the 2023-2024 school year, stated, “The lease between NMH and Borrego was signed till 2037. When the lease ends, either Borrego removes all solar panels and returns the land to NMH in the condition it was before, or NMH will have the opportunity to inherit those panels for free.”

Solar panels last for a long time. On average, the warranty for a solar panel is about fifty years. Therefore, NMH could gain a lot in terms of power-gain capacity in fifteen years.

However, NMH can only inherit these panels after 2037, and even that is not guaranteed. So how does the school currently obtain solar energy?

NMH purchases solar energy from a different company called STX Commodities. STX Commodities is a global, multinational energy company based in New York City. They have many other renewable energy centers, and their east coast grid is enormous. Their power plants in Tolland, Connecticut, and Russel, Massachusetts, are the sources of energy that NMH uses to power all academic, athletic, and housing facilities.

NMH secures energy from STX commodities through digital certificates. These are called Renewable Energy Certificates or RECs. 

RECs are a reliable accounting system for energy. NMH uses them to indicate to STX Commodities that their power plants cannot sell NMH’s allocated electricity to another buyer. By paying RECs annually, NMH ensures a continuous and stable supply of solar power.

NMH uses close to 4,200 Megawatt Hours of power a year from STX Commodities, while the Borrego solar array produces 2,200 Megawatt hours of power a year, roughly half of NMH’s solar energy consumption.

NMH sells surplus power to the local energy grid. The new Norton House Dorm on campus contributes to this initiative as it has solar panels. It uses 2,000 watts of solar energy a year out of the 3,000 watts it generates, with the remaining power sold locally. Although the Norton House array is a small energy initiative on campus, it saves the school approximately $1000 annually. 

Furthermore, NMH would economically benefit while providing help to other companies in their electrical pursuits of being environmentally friendly.

The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, now available to nonprofit organizations like NMH, will also provide direct payouts for Solar Photovoltaic initiatives.

The interdependence between STX Commodities, Borrego, the larger NMH community, and smaller components within NMH, like Norton House, is complicated but still a great example of the importance of sharing resources within a community to promote sustainable practices.