Off the heels of the school’s recent Aspen Prize victory, a joint ribbon cutting ceremony was held by Southwest Wisconsin Technical College (SWTC), as well as Ameresco, Inc., an energy solutions provider, on Thursday, April 24, in celebration of the completion of the new solar array and battery energy storage system (BESS) on the Southwest Tech campus, located behind the child care center.
“An historic first,” is how Krista Weber, Chief Human Resources Officer at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College described the $1.6 million project, which includes a 300-kilowatt solar array, and a 125-kilowatt BESS designed to offset approximately 60% of the electricity used in Building 400—one of the most active facilities during the summer months.
Weber also referred to the solar array and BESS as a “creative, new opportunity for students,” as it will also serve as a hands-on learning opportunity for students and apprentices interested in careers in renewable energy and sustainability.
The project, a “big deal for our campus,” as Josh Bedward, Director of Facilities, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College stated, first started in 2022 is expected to reduce utility costs by approximately $30,000 per year and provide critical backup power to the Student Services building in the event of an outage.
Kristin Bernstein, Senior Project Development Engineer, Ameresco, explained that power to the campus will either be used produced by solar array and its panels, or extra energy will be stored in the BESS.
“This is an example of what other colleges can do,” she went to say.
Last to speak was Charles Bolstad, Board Chair of the Southwest Wisconsin Technical College Board, who pointed to the ceremony’s attendees, that it had been “23 minutes since anyone mentioned our Aspen Prize award.”
Southwest Tech was named by the Aspen Institute as nation’s best community college during a ceremony held on April 17 in Washington D.C., that was also streamed live on campus.
“Energy is a huge cost,” Bolstad explained. “Not paying utility charges (rather producing energy) will be making better lives for students.”
Attendees then made their way through a very soft ground from the day’s earlier rain to the solar array for the ribbon cutting and the project’s official opening.
