Solar and Geothermal Power
Oregon Tech has 7,800 solar electric panels on 9 acres of hillside next to the John F. Moehl Stadium. With a total capacity of nearly 2 megawatts, these panels capture and covert the sun’s rays into electricity to power around 35% of the campus. That makes this solar array one of the largest photovoltaic systems in the state of Oregon.
While the main Oregon Tech campus has been entirely heated by geothermal energy for decades, the 1.75 megawatt combined heat-and-power plant leverages this valuable underground resource to also provide electricity to campus. The completion of this power plant along with the solar panel project have made Oregon Tech the first university in North America to achieve its goal of self-generating the vast majority of its electrical power needs for the campus. And all through renewable energy sources!
Initiatives by the Numbers
Oregon Tech has the first geothermal combined heat and power plant in the world on a university campus and uses it to heat the entire campus.
The Solar Array installed at Oregon Tech is the equivalent to 225,150 Gal. of Gasoline Saved
Operation of the Geothermal Plants at Oregon Tech are equivalent to removing 545 Cars from the road for a year
Combined output from the renewable energy projects will exceed campus electricity use by an estimated 700,000 kilowatt hours per year. That energy will be donated to Pacific Power’s low-income subsidy program, making Oregon Tech the largest non-utility net metering contributor in the state.