Cape Tech Harnesses Solar Power For New Electric Bus Fleet

PLEASANT LAKE – The buzz at Cape Tech last Friday was about a new green energy project designed to save taxpayer money, reduce the school’s carbon footprint, and keep diesel fumes out of the lungs of more students. 

Or maybe the buzz was just the sound of high-tech electrical equipment converting solar energy into fuel for a new fleet of electric buses.

 The 10 new buses will cover all but the most distant routes serving Cape Tech’s 12 member towns. Owned by Cape Destinations, they have a range of up to 120 miles per charge, and can charge in around three hours between the morning and afternoon routes. They’re quiet and free from diesel exhaust, and were purchased using grants from the U.S. EPA’s Clean School Bus Program and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, which also helped pay for the chargers.

 In a parallel project, the buses reside under a large, 625-kilowatt solar canopy that generates around 40 percent of the school’s electricity, saving member towns an estimated $2.33 million over the next 25 years. The canopy was funded directly by the school through Solect Energy and PowerOptions. 

 In addition, the state’s Department of Energy Resources recently awarded the school a grant of $1,319,632 to allow the installation of an innovative 250-kilowatt battery storage system. The project, under the Advancing Massachusetts Power Energy Storage Grant Program, aims to help key public facilities stay powered during outages.

 State Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Provincetown, said Cape Tech is a model for green energy projects. 

“We need to be doing this across all of our school districts on Cape Cod and in Massachusetts,” he said. “A project like this really shows what’s possible.”

 At a time when environmental protection is a critical concern on the Lower Cape, there’s a strong need for projects like these that “preserve and protect our environment as well as save dollars,” said State Rep. Hadley Luddy, D-Orleans.

 Raphael Richter, owner of Harwich-based Cape Destinations — which holds the transportation contract for Cape Tech — said his fleet of school buses, charter coaches, tour buses and other vehicles travels more than three million miles annually, generating around 1.4 million kilograms of carbon emissions. For various logistical reasons, the concept of using electric vehicles “does not work often in our business,” he said. But it can be employed with school buses, and in late 2023 his company applied to the EPA for a rebate on electric buses; the following year the grant was awarded for 10 EV buses, with additional state funding for the chargers. 

 “There were definitely challenges getting this project going after approval,” Richter said. “In late ‘24 and into early 2025 there were increasing costs from tariffs so that the price of the buses changed, as the project continued, in an upward trajectory. And there was uncertainty if the EPA would even continue to fund the project, even though it had been selected,” he said. Since 2023, the EPA has canceled around $27 billion in climate grants. But by last year, it became clear that the project would move ahead, and the EVs were delivered and put in service last March. Richter thanked his staff, from drivers to maintenance personnel, for quickly learning how to work with electric buses. He also praised Cape Tech Superintendent Bob Sanborn and Assistant Superintendent Erin Orcutt for their leadership. “We couldn’t have done it without you,” he said.

 “At Cape Cod Tech, our job is to prepare our students not just for today’s careers, but for tomorrow’s opportunities,” Orcutt said. The electric buses mean cleaner air for students, less carbon in the environment, and tangible financial savings for the district’s member towns. It proves that environmental and financial goals can go hand-in-hand, she said.

 Clint Schuckel of Solect Energy, the project manager for the solar canopy, said the project also offered a learning opportunity for Cape Tech students.

 “There are kids studying to be electricians here at the building, so we had this nice outdoor classroom, to have them come up and see, and ask questions to actual electricians building something,” he said.