May 13, 2025
The campus solar panel installation began on May 12, with work continuing through the summer before the facilities department energizes the system in late fall.
Facilities will install photovoltaic systems on portions of the roofs of Chrouser Sports Complex and Armerding Center for Music and the Arts, and on new carports to be built in the east Billy Graham Hall parking lot. The proposed plan will increase the campus’s resiliency, reduce operating costs, and provide approximately 7% of the campus’s electrical demand.
A battery installation southwest of Billy Graham Hall accompanies the solar panel installation. Facilities will strategically discharge the battery system to reduce the College’s operating costs, while providing backup power capabilities and load shifting opportunities. These new systems will enable Wheaton to produce renewable energy on-site.
Director of Facilities, Jay Bieszke, leads this “Intelligent Solar Project.” “My favorite part of this project is the carports,” he said. “This environmental stewardship effort is highly visible, which we think will resonate positively with visitors, students, faculty, and staff. The addition of shaded parking spaces is an added plus.”
Wheaton administrators and the facilities team have discussed initiating a project like this for more than seven years, but various factors have prevented the College from initiating it. Those factors finally aligned in the fall of 2023, enabling Bieszke and his team to pursue the project. The project’s launch directly advances the College’s commitment to sustainability and responsible stewardship of resources.
“We have a stewardship responsibility that we take seriously,” said Bieszke. “This is more than sustainability for sustainability’s sake. This is part of our responsibility to care for God’s creation.”
—Juliana Bacote