Dominion Energy expanding Solar for Students Program to North Carolina, South Carolina, additional sites in Virginia

Dominion Energy said Monday that it is expanding its Solar for Students program with new sites in Virginia and the program’s first sites in North Carolina and South Carolina.

The program offers K-12 students and educators a hands-on learning experience in which they generate electricity from a solar array installed on grounds accessible to students. Each solar array features a visual display that shows students and faculty real-time data on the amount of electricity generated, and each participating organization receives training sessions and curriculum on harnessing solar energy.

The Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, which sponsors the program, is currently seeking applications from K-12 public schools or educational non-profit organizations with STEM programming within Dominion Energy’s electric service territory in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

The Foundation will select 20 sites to receive a 1.2-kilowatt photovoltaic system. During the 2019-2020 school year, 18 sites participated in the program.

“We are very excited to expand our Solar for Students program to North and South Carolina,” Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, said. “By expanding the program’s reach, we are able to give more students and the public the opportunity for a hands-on learning experience with clean, renewable solar energy.”

Dominion Energy is again partnering with the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, which provides technical support, installs the panels, prepares educational materials for students, and trains the teachers participating in the program.

The company is accepting applications for the Dominion Energy Solar for Students program through Dec. 6, 2019, and will announce the recipients during the first quarter of 2020. Solar installations will occur during the 2020-2021 school year, and Dominion Energy will sponsor a “Solarbration” at each location to launch and showcase the project.

Dominion Energy is also expanding its renewable energy infrastructure and has set a 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions by 55 percent from 2005 levels and methane by 50 percent from 2010 levels.