The College installed its first solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station in the Hollander Hall parking lot earlier this month as part of its long-term efforts to decarbonize campus. The charger, which will become operational later this month, is reserved for faculty and staff use, though the College may install additional models for students.
The charging station is made by Solaflect, a Vermont-based company that has installed similar panels at Dartmouth and Middlebury.
Tanja Srebotnjak, executive director of the Zilkha Center for the Environment, said that the College installed the charging station to further its sustainability goals. The College has committed to reducing its emissions to 20 percent of their 1991 levels. “When you think about our decarbonization journey, continuing to support the transition to electric mobility is something that is extremely important to us,” she told the Record.
Srebotnjak said that the College’s 10 other ChargePoint vehicle charging stations — none of which are solar-powered — have grown increasingly popular since the first was installed on Spring Street in 2014. Most were installed in 2020 and 2021, Srebotnjak said. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen exponential growth in the use of the stations — to the point where I would say there was congestion, meaning there were people who wanted to plug in who couldn’t because no station was available,” she said.
In response to their increased popularity, the College implemented a fee to use the stations in July of this year, which Srebotnjak said has reduced their use by 15 to 20 percent. Users pay $0.18/kWh from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and $0.14/kWh from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Revenue from these payments goes into the College’s utility budget.
Srebotnjak noted that adding more ChargePoint stations would not be feasible because of the strain they would place on the region’s electrical grid. The Solaflect stations, however, are not connected to the grid.
According to Srebotnjak, the solar-powered EV stations will be free to use when they become operational later this month, though the College will charge a fee of $35 per month to use them beginning on July 1, 2025. “We would really like to encourage people to make use of this station, test it out, and see how it works for their charging needs,” Srebotnjak said.
Srebotnjak said 17 faculty and staff members expressed interest in using one of the four available ports at the Solaflect station through a Google Form.
The College has also been working with Alhambra, a student-run consulting group, to study student interest in Solaflect stations in parking lots that would be accessible to students at any time. Students are only allowed to use faculty and staff parking lots between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m on weeknights for most of the school year, when solar powered charging is ineffective.
Michelle Wang ’26, a leader of the Alhambra project team, said that Alhambra received car registry data from Campus Safety Services that showed there are 37 students and 70 faculty and staff members who have electric or plug-in hybrid cars on campus. “There is definitely student demand for this charger,” she said. “But we still have to figure out an operating model and pricing structure.”
Alhambra surveyed about 60 students to further investigate the idea. Not all of the students owned EVs, but “several students mentioned that they would bring EVs from home if there were more accessible charging,” Wang said.
“There’s still many things we’re trying to figure out,” Wang said. She noted that students’ driving habits differ from those of professors, which may affect how much each group is willing to pay to charge their vehicles. “It’s also more difficult to assign students to charging stations when they are already assigned to specific parking spots,” Wang added.
The group will present its final recommendations to Srebotnjak and members of senior staff once the study concludes in early December.
Henry Hilton contributed reporting.
