D6 Solar Station Deployment at Aspen Community School

5 days ago
2 min read

Problem Statement

Traditional EV charging infrastructure often faces significant hurdles that prevent rapid adoption. For many sites, installing a standard grid-tied charger requires extensive trenching, electrical upgrades, and permitting, leading to high construction costs and lengthy project timelines (often months or years). Additionally, many locations lack the available grid capacity to support new Level 2 chargers without expensive transformer upgrades. At the Aspen Community School (ACS) site, there was a specific need to upgrade an aging Level 1 solar unit to a more powerful Level 2 system without the disruption of traditional site construction or the environmental impact of grid-heavy expansion.

Project Overview

Skyhook Solar partnered with SWTCH Energy and LG Electronics to develop this fully off-grid EV charging station. Building on their expertise in innovating solar charging stations since 2020, this particular unit, the D6 Solar Station, took a couple of months to manufacture and less than one hour to deploy. This highlights a significant reduction in construction time and costs compared to traditional, grid-tied installations.

The D6 was deployed at ACS to replace a smaller Level 1 EV charging Solar Station that had been used for workplace charging there since the spring of 2020. By transitioning to this immediate, turnkey solution, the customer bypassed the lengthy, disruptive site construction typically required for grid-capacity upgrades

Partner Background: SWTCH

Founded in 2016, SWTCH Energy is a North American leader in EV charging and energy management solutions, specifically known for its focus on multi-tenant, commercial, and workplace environments. Their technology is built on the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), ensuring high interoperability and scalability. For this project, SWTCH provides the critical software infrastructure and energy management platform that allows for remote monitoring and optimized power distribution, which is vital for managing the variable energy output of a solar-dependent system.

About Skyhook Solar

Based in Grand Junction, CO, Skyhook Solar is engineering solutions for powering equitable broadband, micromobility, and EV charging with clean energy. Skyhook Solar Stations require no on-site construction or electrical permitting and can be delivered and up and running immediately, bringing power when and where it’s needed.

To date, Skyhook has successfully deployed Solar Stations in four countries and multiple cities, including Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, and Washington, DC. For more information, please visit www.skyhooksolar.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Technical Specifications

The station is a fully off-grid unit designed for maximum resilience and a minimal carbon footprint.

Solar & Storage Component: The system features a 3.24kW bifacial PV array paired with a 19.2kWh LiFePO4 battery storage system.
Charging Infrastructure: The station provides two Level 2 charging ports using the standard Type 1 (SAE J1772) connector, delivering a combined output power level of 3.6kW.
Versatility: While this unit is solar-only, Skyhook also offers grid-supplemented variants that can "piggyback" off 120VAC or 120/240VAC circuits that may already be onsite.

Strategic Lessons

This project delivers an immediate, turnkey charging solution that bypasses lengthy, disruptive site construction. A key lesson learned from the installation is the necessity of managing customer expectations regarding capacity. Unlike 100% duty-cycle grid chargers, the energy output of a solar-only system is dependent on environmental factors, such as cloud cover and storms. It is an ideal, resilient solution for locations seeking to minimize their carbon footprint while relying on renewable energy.