Solar Roof in Wooster, Ohio to be Largest College Solar Roof in U.S.

The College of Wooster has plans in place and a contract signed to install a 20,000 square foot solar roof on top of a new student recreation and athletic facility under construction, the Scot Center.

“The solar rooftop installation will be the largest on any college facility in the country. It will generate 271,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, enough to power one of Wooster’s student residence halls.”

The Scot Center is scheduled to open in January 2012 and the solar roof is supposed to have a life of up to 40 years.

“For the last three years we have been getting progressively better organized, more ambitious, and more serious about modeling sustainability practices that the larger society might adopt,” Grant Cornwell, Wooster’s president, said on September 20 when the contract to build the solar roof was signed. “Today we take a dramatic and exciting step forward on that road.”

Carbon Vision LLC of Shaker Heights, Ohio was chosen to install the solar roof and will own it. It will lease it to the college for 12.5 years, after which the college will receive title to the solar installation.

Photo Credit: pixor via flickr under a CC license