Energy & Solar

Type: Ground-mount

Size (kW): 2,321.28

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 3,258,092 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 2,610,790 

Owned by: Tesla

REC Status: SRECs belong to Tesla for years 1-10, Hampshire will own RECs years 11+ 

Type: Ground-mount

Size (kW): 2,310.1 

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 3,100,434 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 2,696,597 

Owned by: Tesla

REC Status: SRECs belong to Tesla for years 1-10, Hampshire will own RECs years 11+ 

Type: Rooftop

Size (kW): 118

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 143,417 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 134,648 

Owned by: Hampshire College

REC Status: SRECs sold via Knollwood Energy (through 2026); Hampshire receives 96% of SREC price. 

Type: Rooftop

Size (kW): 37.26 

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 39,000 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 36,879 

Owned by: Hampshire College

REC Status: RECs sold via CES; because the system is 10+ years old, these are now Class 1 RECS, instead of MA SRECs 

Type: Rooftop

Size (kW): 8.6

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 27,695 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 23,028 

Owned by: Sunwealth / PSM Solar 

REC Status: Owned by Sunwealth/ PSM Solar 

Type: Rooftop

Size (kW): 12

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 25,239 

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 23,922 

Owned by: Sunwealth / PSM Solar 

REC Status: Owned by Sunwealth / PSM Solar 

Type: ?

Size (kW): 4.56

Estimated Annual Production (kWh): 5,554

2021 Actual Production (kWh): 3,300

Owned by: Hampshire College

REC Status: None

Type: Ground-mount

Size (kW):

Estimated Annual Production (kWh):

2021 Actual Production (kWh):

Owned by: Hampshire College

REC Status: Owned by Hampshire College

While Hampshire relies a lot on solar energy, not all of our energy is entirely from solar. For our electricity, Hampshire has implemented a combination of on-site solar electricity generation, off-site renewable energy procurement, and REC purchases (more on this bellow). However, Hampshire still has many buildings that use natural gas for heating and hot water; this energy is from fossil fuels and is not renewable. 

On-Campus Rooftop Solar Electricity Generation

College-owned solar arrays on the net zero R.W. Kern Center, the Solar Canopy, and the Liebling Center alone produced 175,000 kilowatt-hours in 2021, the carbon equivalent of taking 25 cars off the road (EPA). Hampshire also benefits from low fixed-cost electricity via power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar installations on the CSA Barn and President’s House.

On-Campus Ground-Mounted Solar Arrays

Hampshire’s most visible energy infrastructure is the two ground-mounted solar arrays installed along Bay Road. Owned by Tesla on land leased from the college, these arrays produced 5,200,000 kWh in 2022. Under this Power Purchase Agreement, Tesla feeds solar electricity into the grid, and Hampshire buys this produced electricity at a discount from the utility (Eversource). Because Hampshire does not own the RECs from these arrays (more on RECs below), the college does not directly benefit from the associated reduced carbon emissions of this greener power. Instead, we calculate the emissions from our electricity use based on the renewable energy content of the regional grid, which in Massachusetts is about 50% renewable, thanks in part to utility solar arrays. 

The college does benefit from battery storage installed in the fields. We use stored solar energy to reduce our electricity purchasing on peak use days and times (primarily hot summer days with lots of A/C use). This significantly reduces our demand charges from Eversource, and helps reduce stress on the local grid. 

Off-Campus Solar Energy Procurement

Hampshire is also part of the New England College Renewable Partnership, a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Amherst, Bowdoin, Smith and Williams Colleges. In 2018, this partnership engaged with NextEra Energy Resources to help support construction of a utility-scale solar facility in Farmington, Maine. Now that the facility is complete, Hampshire and the other colleges purchase off-site renewable electricity via a “contract for differences” (CFD); Hampshire pays a fixed price for the electricity generated from the Farmington solar project for the next 20 years. 

In addition to more stable energy costs, Hampshire also gets the renewable energy credits (RECs)  for our share of the produced electricity. RECs are a separate tradeable “receipt” that proves that the electricity comes from a renewable source and is zero carbon. RECs have their own market value; the RECs from the Farmington Project are high-value Solar RECs (SRECs). In the near-term, Hampshire is choosing to sell these high value SRECs, and purchase an equal amount of less costly replacement RECs. The income from this “arbitrage” gives us the financial means to buy additional carbon offsets to meet our carbon neutrality goal. 

Yes... but it's complicated:

Hampshire's Tesla solar fields each have a battery array for limited energy storage. However, these batteries can only provide a small percentage of the campus' overall energy use, and are not designed to operate during grid outages. 

The college does benefit from this battery storage to reduce our electricity purchases on peak use days and times (primarily hot summer days with lots of A/C use). This significantly reduces our demand charges from Eversource, and helps reduce stress on the local grid. 

The good news for Hampshire campus resiliency is that the campus has two grid connections - one from the Amherst side and one from the Hadley side. If either the Amherst or Hadley connection goes down (i.e., there's a localized problem like car hitting a power pole or tree falling on power lines) our campus system is designed to swap both campus loops to the still-powered grid connection. 

For emergency power, the campus has a big diesel-powered generator inside the wooden fence south of Adele Simmons Hall (ASH). This kicks on when both the Amherst and Hadley grids go down (there are automatic switches that safely isolate the campus from the grid before the generator powers up). These generators have the capacity to provide full power for the entire campus, but only for a very short time. In a power outage, every effort should be made to reduce energy use to make the diesel fuel in the generators last as long as possible, and minimize our burning of fossil fuels. There are also emergency generators outside individual buildings, including the library, Cole, Early Learning Center, and others. Again, the intent is for this emergency generation to be used for only essential power needs.