TUCSON, Ariz. — TUCSON, Ariz. -- It's been one year since the Tucson Unified School District completed it's "23.8 Megawatt Solar Generation Project." The three-phase plan installed solar panels across the district and has saved $2.8 million since launching in 2014.
The money saved is being used to provide more resources to schools, while keeping facilities safe and up-to-date.
This is the second largest array of solar panels in a K-12 district in the country, with 79 sites on school campuses and support facilities.
According to the Environmental Protection agency, the solar panels have the same impact on the environment as taking 6,600 cars off the road.
"As we're going through and we're looking at those savings, we're just going to get exponential get greater and greater with those savings," Project Energy Manger with TUSD Tina Cook said. "Overall, the whole project, for the 20 year phase, is estimated to save 43 million dollars."
Since the competition of the project, Cook said, they've created an Energy Performance Innovation Committee. The purpose is to create more projects like solar generations, while reducing energy consumption and saving money for the district.
