WASHINGTON — Georgetown University is going solar with SolarCity on a project that is expected to cut the school’s energy bills by tens of thousands of dollars and reduce more than 600,000 pounds of carbon pollution over its lifetime. The student-spearheaded initiative, Solar Street, installed 75 solar panels across rooftops of six university-owned historic townhouses on the campus in the nation’s capital.

“Georgetown is pleased to be leading the first university solar electricity project of its scale on a historic residential block in Washington, D.C.,” said Robin Morey, vice president for planning and facilities management at the university. “This project serves as a strong symbol of Georgetown's commitment to sustainable buildings, and it demonstrates Georgetown’s local leadership as a partner in the Mayor’s College and University Sustainability Pledge by helping to advance the District’s goal to increase solar energy capacity.”

SolarCity expects the project to offset an average of approximately 40 percent of the electricity used in each townhouse, and provide up to $43,000 in savings to the student body government over the 20-year life of the power purchase agreement. These savings represent the difference between the cost of the solar power and the higher cost that the university would otherwise pay to its electricity provider for electricity in those residences.