EcoMotion has joined forces with the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in 2013 to promote solar power at colleges and universities across the country. AASHE serves 862 member institutions of higher education to promote sustainability on campuses. We’ve already heard from a dozen of these.

Higher education is one of the hottest solar markets nationwide. Students and faculty are demanding progressive action on campus. Benefactors expect their recipient colleges to be leaders. For any AASHE member considering solar, EcoMotion will provide a no-cost initial consultation. Our goal is to steer institutions clear of costly mistakes and unfulfilled expectations, and to help accelerate the uptake of solar and efficiency on campuses.

“We are very pleased to be collaborating with EcoMotion due to its experience providing objective and unbiased information as a solar buyer’s representative. EcoMotion has agreed to serve as a technical resource, fielding questions from the campus sustainability community, and providing no-cost, initial solar consultations to AASHE members,” says Paul Rowland, executive director of AASHE. “We think that is critical, because access to early-stage technical assistance can often determine whether a solar initiative is successful.”

Already, AASHE has developed an impressive database of solar installations. The site contains details for 453 projects on 284 campuses across 42 states and provinces that total 182 megawatts. Solar is on a dramatic rise as North American campuses are eager to lessen their carbon footprint and demonstrate responsible energy and environmental management.

Michael Ware, EcoMotion’s Senior Solar Manager, will be in charge of the educational effort: “My job is to help colleges understand and find the nexus between roof and ground-mount real estate, monetizing tax benefits, and local utility incentives and rates to offset. The markets keep changing – most notably the cost of panels – and we’ll be tracking this for AASHE members. We welcome calls from the most basic to detailed.”

The no-cost initial consultation might include: a phone call or email inquiry and follow-up; conference call if desired; cursory examination/explanation of efficiency as a top priority; solar bids review; Google Earth analysis; review of local solar incentives (potentially contacting local utility/state energy office); drafting a note to senior university administrators on the state of solar customized to the particular state and utility service territory; or developing a simple work plan for sequential steps to advance a project or set of projects.