The story of solar at UNC-Chapel Hill is a story of student leadership. Civic engagement is an integral part of the rich history of this flagship public university of North Carolina. Once these top students from around the state, along with a sizable 18% from around the country and beyond, get out of class — they continue their education through extra-curricular and public service activities in the 600+ campus organizations. Over the years, students have been protesting wars and pushing racial integration, organizing to free collegiate apparel from sweatshop labor conditions, and leading countless other campaigns that keep this campus at the forefront of progressive change.
Environmental engagement is no exception. In 1989, students at UNC-Chapel Hill started a new national organization and hosted an environmental conference that birthed the modern college environmental movement. They brought together over 1,500 students from more than 200 campuses to push environmental responsibility through the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC). As the 1990s rolled by, SEAC was joined by many other national student environmental organizations that learned from SEAC’s experience and aimed to tackle growing challenges such as global warming. UNC-Chapel Hill students remain a crucial catalyst for environmental progress by implementing solid projects like the solar story I share below.
Students involved in the UNC-CH chapter of SEAC and collaborating with other campus groups such as Students United for a Responsible Global Environment (SURGE), led a campaign to establish a fund for renewable energy on campus in 2002-03. The proposal was to build the fund from a $4 per semester increase in student fees. A grassroots campaign by a handful of student activists passed the fee in Student Congress legislation and by student referendum with 74.5% support during the February 2003 student government elections. The Chancellor, UNC-CH Trustees, and the UNC System Board of Governors all approved the fee during the following year. The renewable energy fee passage made UNC-Chapel Hill the first campus in the Southeast with such a funding mechanism. And a February 2005 student referendum showed overwhelming on-campus support (85%) to continue the new program through 2009 at least.
The funds, which gather ~$200,000 per year, are distributed by a student and staff committee called the Renewable Energy Special Projects Committee (RESPC). The first project funded was a solar thermal project integrated into the renovation of one of the major dorms on campus, Morrison (Aside: This South Campus dorm provided me with some excellent pick-up basketball games back in 1997-99). An RESPC contribution of $184,000 paid for a majority of the solar water-heating project for showers and washing machines. Partner funding of $137,455 was provided by a grant from North Carolina’s Energy Policy Council of the State Energy Office (a public state institution), accessed by an application process completed by students and staff working in collaboration. Now, the 179 solar panels totaling 3,183 square feet heats most of the water for the 1,000 students living in Morrison. The system is estimated to save more than $11,000 in energy costs every year.
This project has been so successful that students aim to add more solar installations to campus. The RESPC has set aside $160,000 toward 48 solar thermal panels to provide two thirds of the hot water needs of Fetzer Gymnasium and its pool. They also commissioned a feasibility study for an Integrated Photovoltaic Project at the campus astronomy observatory deck, Chapman Hall.
Students worked hard to establish their own financing for campus projects at my undergraduate alma mater, and now have the help of a staffed Sustainability Office and a supportive Administration that has signed the University President’s Commitment to Climate Neutrality. The campus currently utilizes great efficiency in its cogeneration power/heat plant — but it remains dependent on non-CCS coal. The good work of students these past few decades has brought solar to campus as an example of clean alternative energy. And continued student leadership ensures that solar will play a big role in the Tarheels’ energy future, making the campus a model for state of North Carolina and the Southeast.
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I’m proud to share that SET is leading Southeastern engagement in the Solar College Initiative which aims to spread and deepen such solar successes to scores of campuses all over the country in 2009 and beyond.
Tags: clean energy, climate change, global warming, Solar, Tarheels, UNC
Congrats to UNC for doing a great job with solar at their school. We should learn from their example and continue the move nationwide.