More than a decade ago, Denver Public Schools decided that it was time to go solar. There was just one problem: The district didn鈥檛 have the cash.
Buying solar arrays outright can cost schools upward of hundreds of thousands of dollars, a steep price most can鈥檛 afford. 鈥嬧淎t the time, we just didn鈥檛 have as much capital to put upfront for rooftop solar,鈥 said LeeAnn Kittle, executive director of sustainability at Denver Public Schools.
So the district opted to use a power purchase agreement (PPA), a financing tool that can help schools adopt solar with no upfront costs. Rather than directly owning their panels, schools can find a solar developer or other third party to fund, install, and maintain them. In exchange, the school pays the developer a fixed price for the power produced by the system 鈥 often at a lower rate than what鈥檚 offered by the local utility.
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