1 in 7 US students now goes to a solar-powered school

More than 10,800 K-12 schools across the country now run on solar power, according to a new report from Generation180. That's about 1 in 7 US students, or over 7 million kids, attending a solar-powered school. The number of schools with solar has nearly doubled since 2016, and their combined solar capacity has more than tripled to over 2.4 gigawatts. Some districts are seeing big savings: Roanoke City Public Schools in Virginia expects its solar installations to save $46.5 million in energy costs over 35 years. California has the most solar schools, followed by New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and Arizona, while Virginia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York added the most new solar capacity recently.

Battery storage at schools is a different story. Only 155 schools nationwide have added battery systems since 2016 — less than 0.1% of all K-12 schools — though that's seven times more than a decade ago. California accounts for about 70% of these systems. Batteries let a school store extra solar power for later, reduce costly demand spikes, and keep essential equipment running during power outages. Since about a third of public schools serve as official emergency shelters, backup batteries could help the surrounding community too.

This isn't something that directly changes what you can do at your own house, but it points to a broader trend: solar is spreading into more community buildings, and battery storage is starting to follow. A federal tax credit for storage remains available to schools and other tax-exempt groups even as incentives for new solar and wind projects are being phased out on a faster timeline.