Solar panels installed atop Elstad Auditorium

Solar panels have been installed atop Elstad Auditorium. When it goes online, this new solar array will generate 150 kilowatts of power. To put this in perspective, each of the 393 individual solar panels can power up to 50 LED bulbs. The electricity generated by these solar panels will benefit the university and the local community through a Community Solar Program. It will provide access to clean energy to members of the local community who do not have the space or the means to install solar power at their residences.

The Elstad solar panels are one of the first visible outcomes of Gallaudet’s partnership with Urban Ingenuity and Scale Microgrid Solutions, announced in April 2022, to create a “world-class, clean energy microgrid.” The microgrid is expected to be fully online later this year. Morgan Jericho, ’14, Sustainability Coordinator in the Office of Energy and Sustainability, explains more in this YouTube video.