Half a decade after Fairfax County launched a solar panel initiative touted as the largest in Virginia to date, the first major installation at a public school is nearing completion.
Rooftop solar panels have been under construction at Olde Creek Elementary School (9524 Old Creek Drive) since Aug. 1 and are on track to become fully operational by Oct. 13, according to Fairfax County Public Schools.
At peak load, the array will generate up to 240 kilowatts of electricity for the school, which is located in the Long Branch neighborhood east of Fairfax City.
“Olde Creek emerged as the first installation site due to its favorable project conditions, which allowed for an efficient permitting and construction timeline,” an FCPS spokesperson told FFXnow by email. “It now serves as a model for future solar deployments across the district.”
Olde Creek was one of nine elementary schools that the Fairfax County School Board approved for solar panels last year as part of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Charlottesville developer Sun Tribe Solar, which was charged with handling the design, engineering, financing and installation of the projects.
Another 15 schools were authorized to participate in the solar power purchase program on April 24, bringing the total number of schools up to 34.
As of Sept. 24, construction hadn’t started yet at any additional locations, but “preparations are actively underway,” the FCPS spokesperson said. Newington Forest and Cherry Run elementary schools are currently being targeted by Dominion Energy Solutions as the next project sites, with installations potentially beginning in mid to late October.
“Both locations are progressing through the final stages of permitting and are on track to move into construction shortly thereafter,” the spokesperson said. “We’re excited to build on the momentum of Olde Creek Elementary and look forward to expanding solar access across FCPS in the coming months.”
Solar panels advance clean energy goals
The installation at Olde Creek represents a significant step forward in efforts by both FCPS and Fairfax County as a whole to adopt renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions — a transition slowed first by contract complications and then by new regulations from Dominion Energy that set back an approved pilot project at Annandale High School.
FCPS administrators, elected officials and students joined members of nearly a dozen climate advocacy organizations to celebrate the milestone at a “Sun Day” event on Sept. 21 outside Vienna’s Louise Archer Elementary School, one of the schools in line to get solar panels.
Part of a national campaign to mobilize support for clean energy, FCPS’ Sun Day featured free snow cones and live music from the rock band Ratz in Paradise. The snow cone machine and band both drew power from an electric school bus battery.
“They were just plugged into the bus, which was totally cool,” Mothers Out Front Fairfax organizer Bobby Monacella said. “The band members actually were graduates of Louise Archer many, many years ago, so that was also a little fun thing about the event.”
Future projects in limbo after federal funding freeze
At Sun Day, FCPS also announced the addition of 17 more electric-powered school buses to its fleet, which now has 48 electric buses in total.
The school system was awarded funding last year that would’ve brought its total up to 113 buses, but the Trump administration froze disbursements from those federal grant programs earlier this year and then rescinded billions of dollars under the budget reconciliation bill signed into law on July 4.
That legislation also nixed clean energy tax credits that helped residents, businesses and schools reduce or offset the costs of pursuing solar energy and electric vehicle projects. Electric vehicles purchased after Sept. 30 are no longer eligible for a tax break, and energy efficiency projects for commercial buildings, including solar panels, must begin construction before by the end of June 2026 to receive a deduction.
Those incentives were “vital” to making solar and EV initiatives financially viable, the FCPS spokesperson says.
“Dominion Energy Solutions and Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) are working diligently to move as many solar initiatives forward as possible while current federal support remains in place,” the spokesperson said. “This proactive approach ensures continued progress toward the district’s clean energy goals, even as the policy landscape evolves. FCPS remains committed to its clean energy goals and is actively navigating these changes to ensure continued progress.”
Monacella hopes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will at least resume awarding grants from its Clean School Bus program, which closed a fourth round of funding in January. Recipients have yet to be announced, but the program still has $2.3 billion in unspent funds, according to Axios, which reported in August that an EPA spokesperson expected to “provide an update soon.”
If the Clean School Bus program is terminated, then FCPS and other public school systems will need to find new ways to finance electric bus purchases, because the alternative — continuing to rely on diesel-fueled vehicles — would have unacceptable consequences, Monacella told FFXnow.
“They’re so much better for our students’ health, and they’re so much better for students’ futures in the face of climate change,” she said. “So, we just have to figure out a different angle to be able to pay for these buses up front, and there’s lots of people who are working on that. I do have faith that we’ll be able to keep moving forward in this transition. We’ll just have to be smart about it.”
The stakes are especially high for students like Shriya Gubbi, a Langley High School student who advocates for the environment as part of Citizens Climate Lobby’s Northern Virginia youth team.
Speaking at FCPS Sun Day last month, Gubbi noted that, on top of the environmental and health benefits, transitioning to clean energy will be a money-saver in the long term.
“In fact, FCPS has already saved 100 million dollars from sustainability efforts. That’s money that can be invested back into classrooms to maintain the great quality of education we get here in Fairfax County,” Gubbi said.
“As students, we are the generation that is going to have to deal with the effects of global warming in the future,” she continued. “As our schools prepare us for the future, they should also do their part to make sure we have clean air to breathe and a stable climate to live in. The more sustainability efforts we take now, the more money we can save in the future, and the more likely my generation will have a livable planet.”
