Solar PV systems at Colorado State University
- CSU has installed 52 unique solar systems at 45 locations across its campuses, ranging in size from 1 kW to over 5 MW – totaling 11.5 megawatts (11,514 kW), enough to generate almost 17 million kWh/year of clean electricity
- In 2009 Colorado State University installed its first solar photovoltaic (PV) system in partnership with the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office, an 18.9 kW system. Located on the Engineering Building, overlooking the Lory Student Center Plaza, this was the largest PV system in the city of Fort Collins at the time.
- A 5.3 megawatt (5,300 kW), 30-acre solar plant is located at Christman Field on the Foothills Campus (Phase 1 was completed, Dec. 2009 and Phase 2 was completed, Dec. 2010). The plant provides one-quarter of the electricity needs of the entire CSU Foothills Campus. At the time it was built, it was one of the largest solar PV systems located on a university campus in the United States.
- In 2021 and 2022 CSU installed solar PV systems at 20 locations, all part of one project to advance on-site solar. This project alone added 4.25 megawatts (4,251 kW) to our total solar generation capacity.
- The 52 solar systems are installed on CSU campuses across the state of Colorado including:
- CSU Fort Collins Main Campus
- CSU Fort Collins Foothills Campus
- CSU Fort Collins South Campus
- CSU Mountain Campus
- CSU Spur Campus – Denver, CO
- Agriculture Research Development and Education Center (ARDEC) – Fort Collins, CO
- Arkansas Valley Research Center (AVRC) – Rocky Ford, CO
- Western Colorado Research Center (WCRC) – Orchard Mesa, CO
- Eight of CSU’s solar systems are sites of agrivoltaic research – helping to explore and understand the intersection of agricultural production and clean electricity generation.
- For a complete listing of the campus solar PV projects visit CSU Campus Maps or click on the full list below.
Check out a full listing of the solar projects on campus.