381.71 kW Puesta Del Sol: First Net Zero Elementary School in WA

In 2023, Artisan installed a 381.71 kW solar array at Puesta Del Sol net zero elementary school in Bellevue, Washington. We are proud to be an integral part of providing students the opportunity to have solar power and renewable energy as a fundamental part of their educational experience. The DC photovoltaic system has an estimated output of 410 Mwh per year! The system is powered by (779) Silfab 490 Watt solar panels on (5) different roofs, (1) SE66.6KUS and (3) SolarEdge SE100KUS inverters. The solar panels are mounted using both Unirac RM10 fully ballasted racking on the flat roofs and IronRidge XR100 rail racking on the sloped metal roofs.

Puesta Del Sol is the first full-scale net zero elementary school in Washington state — and one of the first in the United States — meaning it is designed and built to produce as much, or more, onsite renewable energy than it consumes over the course of a year. A photovoltaic system uses solar panels on the roof of the building to capture energy from sunlight. This energy is then converted into electricity for the building to use. Every classroom has sensors to measure the amount of sunlight in the space. The LED lights dim automatically based on the sensor’s date to keep the light level consistent and save energy. The walls, roof, and floor control air, water and heat to separate the outside weather from the interior. This is a key element in controlling the building’s energy usage. A geothermal heating system uses pipes buried in the ground. A liquid runs through these pipes. In the winter, the liquid takes heat from the ground and brings it inside to warm the building. In the summer, the liquid takes heat from inside the building and puts it back into the ground.