A former trade school in the Hill District is celebrating a new rooftop solar array that will cover more than 20% of the building’s electricity needs.
Backers say the project is an example of the kind of investment Pittsburgh needs for long-term energy resilience.
The Energy Innovation Center in the former Connelley Trade School is home to university research labs, incubator space for new energy companies and workforce training programs.
Don Evans, CEO of the center’s nonprofit parent company Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, said he wants the center to be a “beacon on the hill” for new tech.
The solar array is the latest addition to the building, which already features a small wind turbine, a thermal battery, combined heat and power generators fired with gas and high-efficiency lighting.
“We do want to showcase the best that modern energy technology can bring, even to a 1930s historic building,” Evans said.
He was encouraged to add the panels by federal incentives created under President Joe Biden. Last year, the Republican-controlled Congress voted to phase those tax credits out earlier than originally scheduled.
Evans said, even without federal credits, the panels still make financial sense.
The $1.2 million project included a new roof and 530 solar panels. The roof is reflective, allowing the panels to catch even more light as it bounces back from the roof’s surface. The arrays will generate 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, which is about enough to power 33 homes.
Evans said the power generated by the panels will be worth $50,000 annually over the next 25 years, and help guard against future electricity price increases.
Sharon Pillar, executive director of the Pennsylvania Solar Center, which helped Pittsburgh Gateways plan the project, said adding solar energy anywhere on the grid can help temper electricity prices. That is because solar panels can produce a lot of energy on hot, sunny days, when demand for cooling is high, she said.
“ We are so thrilled that this iconic place has some of the latest energy technology sitting up on its rooftop and has finally been cured [of] this illness that we call ‘lazy roof syndrome,’” Pillar said, adding the roof is now being put to good use.
The project was financed by Bridgeway Capital, a lending company that focuses on social impact.
The firm’s Dawn Seckler said energy financing is difficult, especially in the midst of shifting federal priorities. But she said making sure community assets like the center stay viable helps create neighborhood stability.
“We think of this not simply as an investment in an individual building, but really the kind of investment that we need more and more of to ensure that we have the long-term regional strength,” Seckler said.
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