Press Releases
RCC/SOU Higher Education Center Receives $285,000 Federal Grant for Solar Power
August 10, 2009
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $285,000 Congressionally directed grant to Southern Oregon University (SOU) for infrastructure and equipment acquisition. The grant will be used to install a 55-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the Higher Education Center (HEC) in Medford, Ore. The HEC is a new three-story educational building jointly owned and operated by SOU and Rogue Community College (RCC).
"We appreciate the efforts of Senator Ron Wyden to get this grant included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2009," says SOU Vice President for Finance and Administration Craig Morris. "We anticipate the installation of the solar panels will result in the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center obtaining LEED Platinum Certification for the building from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it the most environmentally sensitive commercial building in southern Oregon."
Monitoring equipment and a weather station will be installed with the solar photovoltaic system so that performance measurement can be displayed on a kiosk in the lobby of the Higher Education Center, as well as on SOU's Sustainability website.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency named SOU as one of the top 20 colleges and universities in America in the purchase of green power resources. Of the 20 institutions listed by the EPA, SOU had the highest percentage of its electricity use generated by green power—134 percent.
