Tracy Unified School District
Tracy Unified School District
Tracy USD went solar district-wide — deploying EV-ready solar canopies across 18 sites in an award-winning portfolio that turned campus parking lots into clean-energy infrastructure.
Tracy Unified School District needed to lower electricity costs and wanted to advance districtwide sustainability while creating new clean energy learning opportunities for its students.
ForeFront Power delivered a 5.3 MW DC solar portfolio made of solar canopies equipped with EV charging capabilites through a PPA, providing fixed, clean power plus real-time dashboards and SEI-supported STEM curriculum.
The systems generate over 8.5 million kWh annually, offset about 7,000 tons of CO₂ (roughly 1,000 cars) each year, are projected to save an estimated $20 million over 20 years for student resources.
Tracy Unified School District partnered with ForeFront Power to develop a 5.3 megawatt-DC (MW DC) distributed solar energy portfolio comprising multiple solar parking canopies at 18 sites throughout the District. Many of these sites were equipped with EV chargers for a total of 60 EV public chargers available to the local Tracy community. The District pursued this project to save money and contribute to the State of California’s sustainability and resiliency goals. The District is projected to save an estimated $20 million on electricity costs over the 20-year lifespan of the system. These funds are now being directed to additional educational resources for students.
Tracy USD selected ForeFront Power to develop, finance, and construct the solar portfolio through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Combined, the systems will generate over 8,525,800 kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, offsetting 7,000 tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking 1,000 gas-powered passenger vehicles off the road each year.
The project also contributes to Tracy USD curriculum, as ForeFront Power provides real-time production dashboards for students to interact with and learn about the solar energy produced on-site at their school. ForeFront and curriculum provider SEI have also helped the District’s STEM team develop supplemental curriculum to be implemented easily into classroom settings.
“We have many parents, families, and students that are interested in clean energy applications in the fields of tech, science, and math,” said Tracy USD’s Superintendent Dr. Rob Pecot. “The solar project corresponds with the clientele that we’re serving and offers them an opportunity to see what’s out there and what’s the potential.”
“ForeFront has helped us deliver on our sustainability initiatives by providing these solar arrays,” said Tracy USD’s Director of Facilities and Planning, Jaime Quintana. “We’re creating a new standard for our District, looking forward into the future, reducing carbon emissions, saving our clean air, and more importantly, sustainability for the future generations. [That is] really the key focus with implementing a solar array portfolio as large as what we’ve provided.”
In 2024, Environment + Energy Leader awarded the Tracy Unified School District Solar Portfolio Top Project of the Year in Energy Innovation, recognizing the impact of installing districtwide solar with EV charging capabilities through the collaboration between ForeFront Power and Tracy USD. Read more about the project’s recognition in the Earth Day 2024 press release.
"The project in itself started off with a minor installation, but as we built additional phases, we are now estimated to save about $20 million in the district general fund. The solar project has now exceeded that $20 million, and as energy prices continue to go up."
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