Camp JORI: New solar array generates savings, cuts CO2 emissions

After a decade of hoping and planning, Camp JORI in South Kingstown finally dedicated its new solar array, which promises tens of thousands of dollars in savings each year, as well as a major reduction in the camp’s environmental footprint.

The reduction in greenhouse gas output looks to be substantial. Each year, JORI’s new system is expected to prevent 103.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the amount produced by burning 11,630 gallons of gasoline. According to the EPA, it takes nearly 1,700 tree seedlings growing for 10 years to clean that much of the pollutant from the air.

The project began in 2016, when the camp’s board voted to explore using solar energy to power its facilities, which span 30 buildings across 72 acres. Engineering began, but the project hit a roadblock when the initial outlay of more than half a million dollars proved to be too expensive.

“It just wasn't economically feasible,” the camp’s Treasurer and President Emeritus Mike Schuster said. “The best we could do was get some small grants and then finance the balance. For the camp to take on the kind of debt that would have been required just wasn't fiscally responsible.”

That changed in 2024, starting with an email from Nina Stack, of the Champlin Foundations, alerting Schuster to the possibility of a grant from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. The camp applied for it — and was awarded $382,425. That led to more success: The Commerce Corporation of Rhode Island provided an additional $57,000 in the form of a rebate. The camp received another $50,000 when it became one of the eight organizations to receive funding from the 2024 Jewish Solar Challenge.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act made the camp eligible for a $188,681 tax credit. Previously, nonprofit organizations were ineligible for the credit.

The 384-panel system, which began production in 2024 and completed in 2025, is expected to generate just under 146,000 kilowatt hours, most of the camp’s electrical needs. Each year, Camp JORI uses about 200,000 kWh, 40% of which is consumed in July, when campers are on site.

“We won't know for sure until we get through the first year, but we're estimating around $30,000, between $25,000 and $30,000 annually,” Schuster said.

During months when the camp doesn’t use the full amount of power generated, the excess electricity will be fed into the electrical grid for use elsewhere through a partnership with Knollwood Energy. The camp will receive $37.50 per 1,000 kWh, generating roughly $7,500 yearly in revenues.

Schuster said saving that money was a motivating factor, because “we would certainly be able to plow that money back into scholarships and programming at the camp.”

The solar panels were installed in an area of the camp away from campers and the road and are consequently not visible. Keeping to the aim of minimal environmental disruption, all trees that needed to be removed to make way for the panels were replanted elsewhere in the camp.

Across the country, few summer camps are powered by solar electricity.

“This is very unique,” Schuster said.