Austin ISD awarded $15M grant for solar panel program

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The U.S. Department of Energy named the Austin Independent School District the recipient of a multi-million-dollar grant to expand the district's solar panel program.

Austin ISD received the $15 million grant to help fund the addition of solar panels to 14 "historically underserved communities," the district said in a release Monday. It was the sole Texas school district to receive funding from the federal government's Renew America's Schools Grant program.

Right now, 14 Austin ISD facilities have rooftop panels installed, which produce two megawatts of energy. That energy amount could power 230 homes locally, per the release.

Through the grant funding, Austin ISD officials said an extra five megawatts of energy will come online. Modernized schools built through the district's 2017 bond program are already "solar ready," along with numerous schools incorporated in the 2022 bond program.

The federal grant will fund rooftop solar panels at these schools:

• Allison Elementary School
• Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders
• Eastside Early College High School
• Govalle Elementary School
• Houston Elementary School
• LBJ Early College High School
• Norman-Sims Elementary School
• Rosedale School
• Sanchez Elementary School
• T.A. Brown Elementary School
• Widen Elementary School

The following campuses will receive both rooftop solar panels and building automation controls through the funding:

• Liberal Arts and Science Academy
• Mendez Middle School
• Rodriguez Elementary School

Overton Elementary School will be the recipient of building automation controls courtesy the funding, Austin ISD added in the release.

This isn't the first time Austin ISD received federal grant dollars to support solar panel installations. The U.S. Department of Energy also allocated funding to the district in 2023. Those federal grant dollars supported the addition of solar panels to 16 school buildings.