Climate Change Energy & Emissions Resources

Climate Solutions: New Commercial Solar Program

Now more than ever, the climate crisis is on the minds of people all around the world. Due to the urgent need to implement effective solutions to this social and environmental crisis, we will be regularly featuring stories of climate solutions adopted at the university and at the local, state, and national levels to inspire and accelerate positive change.

With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, WashU has partnered with Renew Missouri to develop a new commercial solar program, Renew STL Solar, that allows businesses, institutions, school districts, and other owners of commercial buildings to pool their buying power to save on on-site solar. Renew Missouri, a non-profit focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency policy, selected St. Louis-based Straight Up Solar as the solar installer through a competitive bid process.

This innovative group-buy program is among the first of its kind for allowing large-scale energy customers to pool together similar projects to achieve a higher economy of scale, resulting in lower costs for all participants. Renew STL Solar will also publicly recognize organizations for their leadership to lower emissions and support a strong St. Louis economy.

This program offers non-residential building owners the chance to install solar on their property at no upfront cost and capture savings from day one. Installing solar through this program can free up additional resources for building owners by creating utility cost savings in the short term, and increasing the value of buildings in the long term. Renew STL Solar is designed to make it easier and less expensive to install solar for customers like factories, warehouses, retail stores, churches, governments, school districts, institutions and others.

The current COVID-19 crisis presents the perfect opportunity to create revenue for businesses and organizations while supporting a growing St. Louis solar workforce. In addition, it can help meet an organization’s sustainability goals, and support the health of our people and our planet. 

Renew STL Solar has hit the ground running with several contracts already signed! The more participants in the program, the better the savings will be for all. If you are interested in solar for your commercial building, visit www.renewstlsolar.org for more information. 

For questions and or a free quote please contact Tori Cheatham at Renew Missouri: tori@renewmo.org.