A

Case Study: Solar Panels at Boston College

Annie Meyer April

1, 2014
Farhin Zaman
Elizabeth Norton

GE 580 Environmental Studies Senior Seminar

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA



Introduction
Solar Photovoltaic: Background
Solar cells and photovoltaics were first invented in 1954 after a lot of
research around photoelectric technologies and beginning to use the suns energy
for other purposes (Timeline). Now, solar has been around for many decades,
and has been proved to consistently work well. Like most other technology, solar
has improved immensely over time, gaining more efficiency and becoming a more
viable option for homes and businesses. When it was first invented, each cell had a
6% efficiency rate (Timeline). Currently most cells have an efficiency rate of
approximately 25% though there are cells being developed with over 40% efficiency
(Stacking the Deck 2014). That is truly an amazing transformation, and a
testament to technology.
Solar PV can be difficult to understand, especially when you are thinking
about using it for your home or business. There is a long list of things to consider,
but the first step is to understand the basic technology behind the panels. Solar
panels contain solar cells (mentioned above) that collect heat energy from the sun.
Once this energy is trapped, an inverter is used to convert the energy so that it is
usable within your home to power things with electricity (EnergySage). Though you
may not be able to produce enough energy to meet 100% of the needs for your
home, solar PV can still help you save a lot of money.
Solar PV is considered clean energy because it harnesses energy from a
renewable resource: the sun. Our planet is constantly receiving energy from the sun,
so why not utilize it? Overall solar is a very environmentally friendly solution in a
society that uses colossal amounts of energy.
Solar at other Colleges/Universities: Brandeis, Harvard, and Stonehill
 By looking at the solar installations at other colleges and universities, we were
able to get solid and successful examples of solar working in different ways at places
similar to BC.
Harvard has solar panel systems on eight of its buildings, the largest of which
produces 590,000 kWh/year. The university also purchases renewable energy from offsite
sources and has a wind turbine mounted on one of its buildings. Combined, 17% of their
electricity comes from renewable sources, while saving them money on the use of fuel
and utilities (Sustainability 2013). Harvard is clearly making a statement about being
green and moving towards cleaner technologies. While we understand that BC hopes to
do the same, the university is also working on a ten year plan to add housing and new
facilities. Taking on one solar project is much more reasonable at the moment.
Stonehill College is currently building one of the nations largest college campus
solar fields. It is a 2.7 megawatt field that will contain 9,000 solar panels. The solar field
is expected to save about $185,000 a year on energy costs and account for 20% of the
campus electrical usage (One of Nations 2014). This array produces such a large
portion of the colleges energy mostly because Stonehill is only a quarter of the size of
BC, making its energy use much smaller (Stonehill College 2014). In addition, field
arrays have to be built away from the campus, making the use of solar less noticeable.
While we do not propose making solar extremely visible at BC, we think that it is
important that students can physically identify the connection between the panels and
energy use.
Brandeis installed solar on the roofs of two buildings in 2010. At the time, the
project was one of the largest in the state, and these panels currently produce 10% of the
annual energy needed at their sports center (Campus Sustainability Initiative).This plan
is what we think should be the closest to our proposed project at Boston College. This
type of system offers energy savings and becomes iconic to the university. This is a good
place to start, and hopefully, if BC falls in love with solar, the administration would then
add more.
Solar at Boston College
Implementing solar panels on Boston Colleges campus is an effective and easy
way to introduce clean energy with proven technology. Solar panels offer both an
environmental and economic benefit, especially at universities where energy
consumption is high. With an undergraduate population of over 9,000 students, 2 major
stadiums, 3 major dining locations, and over 20 dormitories, Boston College is always
using large amounts of energy. Our report will outline the thorough investigation of four
different buildings on campus, and what a Solar PV system offers in each situation. The
findings will compare third party ownership with private ownership, giving a
comprehensive plan for Boston College moving forward. Solar PV will help reduce BCs
electricity bills, protect against rising energy costs, and increase sustainability initiatives.
Our primary objective is to create a realistic plan for the first implementation of solar
panels on campus with the hope that the B.C. administration will accept the idea.

Methods
Picking the location
Over the course of this project our team used process of elimination to
determine the best location for a solar PV system on Boston College properties.
Through meetings with two of our mentors - John MacDonald the BC Energy
Manager, and Bob Pion the BC Sustainability Director - we were given advice on how
to decide which locations would be feasible and most beneficial to the school. We
examined the multitude of buildings that Boston College maintains on several
properties - Main campus, Newton campus, Brighton campus, and the Weston
Observatory. From these options, building choices were narrowed down based on a
series of criteria, an overview of which can be seen in Figure 1. The basic variables
involved were aesthetics, BCs ten year plan, and annual energy use.
Figure 1: Flow chart outlining the process of elimination for solar system locations.
The initial proposal of this project was to implement solar panels on the roof
of the Commonwealth Ave Parking garage. We ruled this option out due to
aesthetics. Its proximity to St. Marys means that the Jesuit residents would directly
overlook the panels on top of the garage. We ruled out all of middle campus because
it consists of buildings with gothic architecture, which is the aesthetic that the BC
administration is most dedicated to in regards to the campus appearance. This
group includes buildings such as Devlin, Lyons, Gasson, Fulton, and Stokes Hall. It
also includes buildings in close proximity to gothic architecture, like McGuinn, as
well as buildings in view of middle campus, such as Conte Forum (the roof of which
is also taken up mostly by skylights, leaving little area left for solar panels).
Next, our team was shown the 10-year construction plan for Boston Colleges
campus which revealed several buildings and structures that will be knocked down
in the near future, including Edmonds Hall and Carney. Our team decided not to
propose installing solar panels on any buildings that will be built in the near future,
such as the new Plex athletic building, because the construction plans for them are
not yet fully concrete and we want this proposal to be applicable in real time. A
couple of buildings, like the Brighton Campus Dance Studio building, were removed
from our list because they are simply too small to hold a valuable number of solar
panels.
 The remaining buildings were reviewed based on their year-round energy
use. Buildings that are not used throughout the entire year (i.e. not used very much
during the summer) were also eliminated since solar panels are most efficient and
useful in places where energy is used all the time. This group included all
dormitories, including all those on Newton Campus, upper Main campus, and lower
Main campus.
All of main campus runs on one energy meter, which makes it more difficult
to involve another type of energy generating system on one of the main campus
buildings. The energy offset from the panels would come out of the campus total
energy use rather than out of just the energy use of the building it is installed on.
Though it would be possible to have the system in place on a single building while
having it hooked up to the schools net metering system, our team agreed that since
we are proposing installing solar panels at Boston College for the first time, it would
be best to make this a contained system on a single building. This way the
administration can look at the project and decide how to move forward.
This process of elimination narrowed down our choices to four locations -
Cadigan Alumni Center (Figure 2a), 129 Lake Street (Figure 2b), the Beacon Street
Garage (Figure 2c), and St. Clements Hall, the campus data center (Figure 2d). All
four of these buildings we have flat roof tops, which means that solar panels could
be set at the proper angle and direction for best possible production. The Beacon St
Garage is large, which would allow it to accommodate a very large solar panel
system. Unfortunately, it has parking spots on its roof, so a canopy structure would
have to be built to accommodate the panels. This is a fairly standard procedure but
it can be costly. Though we did not calculate the expense of building these solar
canopies on top of the garage, it would be an added expense on top of the cost of
buying and installing a system at this location. Unlike the Beacon Street Garage (and
all buildings on main campus for that matter), the three other buildings, all on
Brighton Campus, run on their own individual meters. This would make it easy for
the solar panel system to directly offset the energy use of the building on which it is
installed.
Figure 2: Aerial views of the four buildings that were considered as the location for a solar panel
system, with roof areas mapped out in blue (a. Cadigan Alumni center, b. 129 Lake Street, c. Beacon
Street Garage, and d. St. Clements Hall).

Financial Analysis
a. Building and System Estimates
At this point in the process we began a financial analysis of a potential
system on each of the four buildings. This was made possible by the information
provided to us by John MacDonald. The estimate involved finding the system size (in
kilowatts per hour -kWh) that would be able to fit on the roof of the building in
question, as well as the cost of purchasing that sized system. In order to get the most
well-rounded estimate possible our team employed three different sources for these
calculations. After finding three different values, we took an average to obtain the
most accurate numbers.
The first source was our teams own calculations. We used the tools on
Google Earth to measure out the roof area of the four buildings. We then deduced
how many panels would be able to fit on that sized roof by dividing the area by the
size of a standard sized solar panel, which is 19.5 square ft (Timeline). Since a
standard sized panel produces 250 watts per hour, we multiplied the number of
panels by 0.25 kilowatts per hour to calculate the system size in kWh (Aggarwal,
2014). These types of systems generally cost $2.50 per watt, so in order to calculate
the cost of purchasing the panels, we multiplied the system size by the price for kWh
($2,500). The error involved in this calculation is the fact that solar panels are often
tilted meaning that the roof may fit more or less than the exact number that fit
inside the initial roof area.
The second source was the solar energy calculator on the PV Watts website.
Using their program, we again mapped out the roof area of each building, and were
provided with the system size in kWh. We then calculated the cost using the given
system size, using the method mentioned previously. When using this method,
tracing the building area was difficult. We could not be sure that the area we traced
was the viable area on each building.
The last source was a website called Energysage. On their program we
selected each building on a map by pinning the roof and were provided with an
estimate of cost and savings. Personnel at the company were kind enough to give us
the system size they calculated using their own tools. Because you pin the building
on EnergySage, it is hard to tell whether it will calculate the right parts of the roof.
For example, Cadigan Alumni Center has skylights that we did not want included as
part of the panel area.
Since the three sources we used had some measure of error involved, we
took the average of all three in order to provide the BC administration with the best
estimate possible. Additionally, while the two websites take into consideration
several factors that we were not able to - such as factoring in the amount of shading
on each roof as well as accounting for the tilt of the panels when placed on the roof -
they have their faults. These programs spat out numbers without us being able to
see their calculations, and as mentioned above, we had different concerns with each.
We took an average system size from our three estimates to see how much energy a
system on each of these roofs would produce and how much of that buildings
energy use would be able to be offset by that particular system size.
b. Pro forma Calculations
Our mentors at the green energy company First Wind gave us a pro forma
model for excel. This model provided us with a basic outline of how much energy a
solar system could possibly produce on main campus and the potential savings for
BC. We wanted to compare the costs and savings between private (BC) ownership
and 3rd party ownership of the system in order to deduce the most financially
sound conclusion. In order to come to this conclusion we had to tailor the pro forma
by creating four different proformas - one for each of the four final buildings. We
input data we received from the Boston College energy manager, John MacDonald,
in order to calculate the financial aspects of installing solar panel systems on each of
the four buildings. This analysis was based on the buildings annual energy uses,
annual energy costs, and the campus energy rates from NSTAR.

Results
Building and System Estimates
Table 1: The annual electrical use and bill for each building chosen.

Annual electrical
use (kWh) Annual Bill

Cadigan Alumni Center 528,538 $71,881.17

129 Lake St. 261,544 $35,569.98

Beacon St. Garage 1,576,800 $214,444.80

St. Clements Hall 4,091,784 $556,482.62

Table 2: The number of panels, the size of those panels in kWh, and the net cost of that system as
calculated from the area by using aerial shots of each building on Google Earth.
 Net Cost of
Panels
Our Our Area Sq. Ft # of System size ($2.50 per
Calculations (sq. ft) per Panel Panels (kWh) panel)

Cadigan Alumni
Center 12,432 19.25 646 161.5 $403,750.00

129 Lake St. 20,785 19.25 1080 270 $675,000.00

Beacon St.
Garage 39,406 19.25 2047 511.75 $1,279,375.00

St. Clements
Hall 17,965 19.25 933 233.25 $583,125.00

Table 3: The number of panels, the size of those panels in kWh, and the net cost of that system as
calculated by the PV Watts website energy system calculator.

PV Watts # of System size

Calculations Panels (kWh) Net Cost of Panels

Cadigan Alumni
Center 713 178.2 $445,500.00

129 Lake St. 1016 254.4 $636,000.00

Beacon St. Garage 2680 670 $1,675,000.00

St. Clements Hall 800 200 $500,000.00

Table 4: The number of panels, the size of those panels in kWh, and the net cost of that system as
calculated by the Energy Sage website instant solar estimator.
 System
Energy Sage # of size Net cost of system
Calculations Panels (kWh) ($2.50 per panel)

Cadigan Alumni
Center 473.6 118.4 $296,000

129 Lake St. 642.94 160.74 $401,850

Beacon St. Garage 3876.2 969.05 $2,422,625

St. Clements Hall 666.164 166.54 $416,350

Table 5: List of the system sizes of each of the four buildings in kWh, averaged from the results listed
in Tables 2, 3, and 4, along with the cost of that averaged system size.

Cost
Average System size (kWh) (private ownership)

Cadigan Alumni
Center 152.7 $381,750.00

129 Lake St. 228.4 $571,000.00

Beacon St. Garage 625.9 $1,564,750.00

St. Clements Hall 200 $500,000.00

Pro forma Calculations

The financial costs and benefits are a major part of whether an institution,
like BC, would consider implementing solar panels and the type of system that
would be used. An important tool in our analysis was the use of pro forma financial
statements, which present the anticipated results of a certain project/ transaction.
In our case, Matt Marino from First Wind, provided a pro forma model that outlined
the 3rd party ownership of the solar system through a Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA). In a PPA, BC would have to pay a discounted rate per kWh for the energy
produced by the solar panels. In our case, a solar company, like First Wind, would
charge BC $0.12 per kWh for the energy produced by the solar system, which is a
lower rate than $0.136 per kWh that is currently charged by NSTAR. First Wind
would charge BC for the energy produced by the solar panels at a reduced rate and
then BC would pay for the rest of their electrical needs through NSTAR. As a result,
BCs annual energy bill would be lower from their average annual bill with NSTAR.
The pro forma outlines the costs and savings in Tables 6-9 for the respective
buildings in our study. For example, in Table 6, the pro forma model for Cadigan
Alumni Center uses the buildings annual electrical usage and utility bill that were
calculated in Table 1. From there, we used the average system size, calculated in
Table 5, to estimate the energy production of the panels and the amount BC would
save. We did not calculate the costs of the solar PV system under 3rd party leasing
because BC would not be responsible for the installation and maintenance costs
under this system. In Table 6, the estimated solar project size (1 MW) and
percentage of energy production provided for BC (15%) was given to us by First
Wind. To calculate the amount of energy produced by the solar system for Cadigan,
we took 15% of the amount of energy produced annually, which would be 79280.7
kWh annual solar energy produced and BC would pay a discounted rate for that
energy. The energy bill for Cadigan would save $10,782.18 on its usual bill.
Cadigans current bill, calculated in Table 1, is $71,881.17 per year, but with the
solar system, the new bill would be $61,098.99. If this value is carried throughout
the life of the solar system, which is around 20 years, then BC would save
$25,369.82 in that amount of time for just one building.
If BC decided to purchase the solar panels and own the system and reap
benefits like Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECS), then the financial projections
are a bit different. Unlike the 3rd party leasing system, BC would have to pay
significant upfront costs for the installation of the panels. In the same example from
Table 6 of Cadigan Center, we used our estimate of the solar system size (152.7
kWh) that BC could install on the roof of the building. From there, we calculated the
potential annual production that a 152.7 kWh solar system could produce
throughout the year, which is 1,231,372.8 kWH of energy. However, based
estimates from EnergySage, a solar system on top of Cadigan could only produce
10% of the potential energy. Using that information, we predicted that Cadigan
Center would only be able to use 123137.82 kWh of energy from the panels, but
would still save $16,746. 67 on their current utility bill. Over the course of 20 years,
this would amount to $334,933.40 in savings. However, this number is not entirely
accurate since BC would first have to break even on the investment of the solar
system, which we calculated would cost around $381,750.00, as shown in Table 5.
The time for BC to break even on the investment could take several years and is
based on calculations that we did not have time to explore in the scope of this
project.
Despite the initial costs of installing a solar system, there are a few benefits
that BC should consider such as the use of SRECS. In Table 6, we had predicted that
the solar system would only be able to produce about 10% of what the system can
potentially produce. However, if the system was able to produce excess energy,
outside of Cadigans utility needs, then BC could lower the bill even more by using
net metering. In addition, all energy produced by solar is eligible for SRECs (solar
renewable energy credits), We estimated that if the solar system worked to its full
potential, and SRECS were bought for $0.30 per kWh produced, then BC could
possibly earn $332,470.66 in one year.
This process of estimations and calculations were repeated for 129 Lake St.,
Beacon St. Garage, and St. Clements Hall. In Table 7, we analyzed the financial
projections of 129 Lake St and see that the 3rd party system could save BC around
$627.71 a year from the current utility bills. Over the 20 year life of the solar
system, BC could possibly save $12,554.71 in total. For private ownership, BC
would be able to save $35,569.98 annually and $711,399.68 over the life of the
system. However, the initial cost of the system would be around $571,000.00 that
would see a return on investment of around five to seven years. There is also the
possibility of earning around $474,082.08 in SRECs.
In Table 8, we observe the costs and savings of Beacon Street Garage.
Under the 3rd party lease, the garage has the potential to save BC around $3,784.32
a year and $75,686.40 over the life of the system. With private ownership, both the
Beacon Street Garage and 129 Lake St. are unique because EnergySage had
predicted that both solar systems would be capable of producing 100% of the
energy needed by both buildings. Therefore, the annual savings would be the value
of the current energy bill itself, which, for the Beacon St. Garage, is $214,444.80 a
year and around $4,288,896.00 over the life of the system. The initial cost of the
system is predicted to be around $1,564,750.00 with the possibility of earning
$1,041,137.28 in SRECs.
Our final analysis was on St. Clements Hall, also known as the data center on
Brighton Campus. In Table 9, we predicted that 3rd party ownership would save BC
around $9,820.28 annually and around $196,405.63 for the life of the system. For
private ownership, EnergySage had predicted that the solar system would be able to
produce around 5% of the energy used by St. Clements Hall. Even with this small
percentage of energy production, the system would be able to save BC around
$10,967.04 a year and $219,340.80 over the life of the system. The initial cost to
the system is around $500,000 with the possibility of earning $1,203,343.20 in
SRECs if the system was able to produce energy at full capacity.
























Table 6: The estimated pro forma model for Cadigan Alumni Center.








Table 7: The estimated pro forma model for 129 Lake St.

 Table 8. The estimated pro forma model for Beacon St. Garage

Table 9. The estimate pro forma model for St. Clements Hall

Discussion/Analysis
Mention some errors in analysis to be rectified in the future
There are some imperfections in the pro forma financial estimates that need
to be addressed for future analysis on such a case study. Many of the values used
on the pro forma were based on generalizations of data that we had been given or
research done online and may not be specific to the buildings we studied. For
example, we used two different system sizes to compare 3rd party ownership and
private ownership. The system size used in the pro forma for 3rd party ownership
(1 MWh) was provided to us by First Wind and based on the net metering cap for
non municipal and public customers. We also assumed that the solar energy
company would only provide 15% of the energy produced by each building, but this
value could change between solar companies and the different sizes of the system.
We also estimated that the solar energy company would provide BC energy at a
discounted rate of $0.12 per kWh, but this could also vary amongst different energy
companies. These factors could alter the value of the savings calculated for 3rd
party ownership per year and over the life of the system.
The pro forma also analyzes private ownership but only provides basic costs
and savings associated with owning a system. We stated the cost of the overall
system for BC and the annual savings on utility bills and over the 20 year life span of
the system. These basic statistics, however, are oversimplified. The annual savings
under private ownership would only be experienced by BC once the entire system
had been paid off, which usually varies between five to seven years depending on
the size and capacity of the system. Therefore, the gross savings presented in the
current pro formas could vary for each building. Further analysis of private
ownership could be done through an economic cost benefit analysis to produce
more accurate values on the net present value of each project. Such an analysis
would provide a clearer picture on the investment in private ownership.

Conclusions
Based on our findings, the most optimal location for solar panels at Boston
College is St. Clements Hall. Even though these panels will only produce 5% of the
buildings annual energy, this significantly lowers the energy bill, and means more
savings over time. In addition, the carbon offset is ~521,702lbs per year. This is the
equivalent to the amount of carbon 10,869 trees can absorb in a year or is the same
as taking 46 cars off the road for the year (Tree Facts, 2014; Greenhouse Gas, 2011).
Third party ownership makes the most sense for Boston College because it
means immediate savings rather than an initial deficit. The annual savings for
private ownership are much higher but because a system is expensive to own, it
would take years to pay off the initial deficit. By putting a solar PV system on St.
Clements, BC will save almost 10,000 dollars on energy each year. Because BC
would not own the panels, it would not be responsible for maintenance or other
costs the panels might require.
Solar is the perfect way for BC to improve sustainability while saving quite a
bit of money!

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our many mentors who have supported us
throughout our projects duration: Vikram Aggarwal for aiding us with solar
statistics and mathematical configurations, Peter Sullivan and Matt Marino for a pro
forma that assisted us in calculating the cost of solar at different locations, and John
MacDonald and Bob Pion for their advice on BCs energy use and policy. We must
also thank Professor David who gave valuable feedback and guided us through the
process.
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