Renewable Energy Company Bringing Solar to Portable Poway Classrooms

POWAY, CA -- Alta Energy, a Northern California-based renewable energy optimization company, has taken over a contract to supply over a dozen campuses within the Poway Unified School District (PUSD) with solar electricity.

Alta received the contract when it recently acquired the assets of Sovereign Modular, a provider of solar energy tailored to mobile classrooms at California public schools. As part of the acquisition, Alta Energy will install 715 kilowatts of solar photovoltaic systems on modular classrooms at 16 different Poway Unified campuses, including the mobile buildings in the above photos.

The project's expected to bring renewable energy to over 10,000 students, plus cut electricity costs by 13 percent and also net the school district about $250,000 in savings per year, which adds up to more than $5 million over the contract's 20-year lifespan.

Although California's home to 80,000 portable classroom facilities ideal for solar power, the process of permitting the installation of solar systems on buildings within the public school system has been a barrier for some school districts looking to deploy PV systems. But Alta Energy says that with its acquisition of Sovereign Modular, it now offers standardized, fast-track permitting for these installations, allowing schools to quickly and cost-effectively go solar.

“PUSD has long been a sustainability leader among California’s public schools, and we’re happy to continue that tradition with this project to put solar on our relocatable classrooms,” Poway Unified School District Facilities Director Chad Koster said.

“Schools in particular stand to gain a lot by going solar, and small systems can provide big benefits,” Alta Energy Vice President Marc Roper said. “Adding a PV system to even one or two relocatable classrooms can qualify a school for a much more favorable utility rate.”

Images of Poway Unified modular classrooms courtesy of Alta Energy.