East Campus solar array begins delivering electricity

The 1.1-megawatt (MW) ground-mounted solar array, located on a two-acre site east of Lot 560 on East Campus, is now operational. The project was approved by the Board of Regents in June 2024 and broke ground last April.

The array is expected to generate about 1.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year—offsetting roughly 1% of CU Boulder’s total electricity use and saving an estimated $120,000 annually in energy costs.

“This project is another example of how CU Boulder continues to put campus climate action into practice through investments in our infrastructure,” said Chris Ewing, vice chancellor for infrastructure and resilience. “Through our ongoing campus sustainability efforts, we’re aligning investments toward meeting our climate action goals with delivering resilient infrastructure that will serve the campus for decades to come.” 

The project, delivered in partnership with contractor McKinstry, supports CU Boulder’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve a linear reduction to zero emissions by 2050.

With the addition of the East Campus array, CU Boulder now has about 3.5 megawatts of solar capacity across campus, generating enough electricity to power the CU Events Center and Folsom Field combined. The new system is the university’s second ground-mounted array and complements 10 rooftop solar installations already in place.

This summer, CU Boulder will add another major installation when a 5-megawatt project being developed in Weld County through a partnership with Pivot Energy is completed.