The Nora School is a nonprofit school located in Silver Spring, Maryland with the mission to guide students to identify their talents, understand where their challenges lie, and honor their unique identities.

The Nora School is installing 48.1 kW of solar PV energy on the roof, which will produce 55,334 kWh of clean, renewable solar energy throughout the first twelve months of use. Over the next 20 years, the solar PV, which will be installed by Solar Energy Services, will avoid the consumption of 1,106,680 kWh of energy not sourced from the local utility provider, mitigating 784 metric tons of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. These energy savings will lead to a projected savings of $41,040 over 20 years in reduced electricity bills for the building.

The solar project will be financed through a 20-year power purchase agreement between Skyview Ventures and The Nora School.

The Commercial Solar Power Purchase Agreement (CSPPA) program developed by the Montgomery County Green Bank allowed The Nora School to install solar and experience the benefits of solar without upfront costs through a no money down rental agreement with Skyview Ventures. In this PPA, or rental agreement, Skyview Ventures pays for all maintenance and operations costs, while The Nora School only pays for the electricity produced by the solar system at a contracted price that is less than the current electricity costs from the utility provider.

The Montgomery County Green Bank has been working closely with Interfaith Power & Light on helping faith communities go solar. See ipldmv.org/solar for more resources from Interfaith Power & Light, including a map of existing faith communities with solar and a recording of an info session on solar for faith communities.