Palmetto Clean Energy (PaCE), a South Carolina nonprofit that promotes renewable energy resources, has awarded grants to install rooftop solar panels for five South Carolina schools.
Duke Energy, who provided contribution for the pilot program, says PaCE's Solar Matching Grant Pilot program targeted K-12 schools in South Carolina. The $250,000 program will cover 50% of a school's rooftop solar installation, up to $50,000. K-12 schools and not-for-profit 501(c)3 educational institutions in South Carolina were eligible.
The contribution was part of a settlement agreement reached with the Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, during the Duke Energy-Progress Energy merger.
The program is aimed at enabling more schools and educational institutions to take advantage of solar technologies by assisting with upfront installation costs, says Duke Energy.
The five applicants selected for funding are the following:
-Bluffton High School (Beaufort County School District);
-Dixie Plantation Educational Holdings LLC, Environmental Research Stations at Dixie Plantation (College of Charleston);
-Griggs Road Elementary School (Clover School District);
-Roper Mountain Science Center (Greenville County School District); and
-Whale Branch Early College High School (Beaufort County School District).
Duke Energy says installation work at the schools will likely begin in early 2014 and additional grants will be available in the spring.
