San Diego, CA
The Children’s Workshop, a dedicated educational non-profit in San Diego, provides a specialized and nurturing environment for students with unique learning needs. Operating a high-touch, modern school campus—complete with specialized therapeutic equipment, interactive classrooms, and full-facility climate control—requires a massive, constant flow of electricity. To ensure that more of its funding goes directly toward student development rather than utility overhead, the Children’s Workshop partnered with Stellar Solar Commercial in September 2019 to deploy a high-performance 72kW (DC) rooftop solar strategy.
Designing a solar solution for a specialized school environment requires a sophisticated understanding of educational loads, structural integrity, and architectural integration. Stellar Solar Commercial engineered a robust rooftop system designed to maximize energy yield within the workshop’s footprint, utilizing premium technology to ensure long-term reliability for the campus.
The technical architecture of the Children’s Workshop installation features:
-200 SunPower 360W Modules: By utilizing premium SunPower technology, the workshop ensured maximum energy density and a sleek, high-aesthetic finish. These 200 high-output modules are engineered to perform at peak efficiency even in varying coastal conditions, capturing every possible watt of the San Diego sun.
-72kW (DC) Installed Capacity: This system was precisely sized to offset a substantial portion of the school’s daily electrical load, providing a reliable and predictable source of power for its specialized learning facilities.
-Operational Since 2019: Placed into service over six years ago, this array has already delivered a significant return on investment, shielding the non-profit from years of record-high utility rate hikes in San Diego.
For an educational non-profit, every dollar saved on operational overhead is a dollar that can be reinvested directly back into the student experience. Electricity is a major, non-negotiable expense for a modern educational campus. By generating its own power on-site, the Children’s Workshop has effectively “locked in” its energy costs for decades.
In the 2026 energy landscape, where SDG&E rates for San Diego educational institutions have reached historic highs, the foresight of this 2019 installation provides a critical budgetary advantage. Every kilowatt-hour produced by the SunPower array is a kilowatt-hour the workshop does not have to purchase from the utility at premium “On-Peak” rates. This creates a permanent stream of savings that can be redirected toward:
-Specialized Therapeutic Resources: Funding for the adaptive tools and technology that support unique learning paths.
-Student Services: Expanding support for extracurricular activities, family workshops, and specialized counseling.
-Campus Maintenance: Ensuring that the physical learning environment remains safe, modern, and inspiring for every student.
Since 1998, Stellar Solar Commercial has been the premier partner for San Diego Unified and independent educational non-profits. We bring over 28 years of technical expertise to these projects, navigating the unique requirements of the Division of the State Architect (DSA) and ensuring that the installation process is as non-disruptive as possible for students and faculty.
Our in-house team handles the entire lifecycle of the project—from initial structural analysis to navigating complex utility interconnection and state-specific incentive programs for education. We specialize in “quiet-professional” construction, ensuring that the academic mission of the school remains the top priority throughout the project.
As we move through 2026, the strategy for educational campuses has evolved to include Solar + Battery Storage. For institutions like the Children’s Workshop, adding a battery system provides an essential layer of resilience, ensuring that critical administrative data, campus security, and student support facilities remain fully operational even during regional power outages.
Stellar Solar Commercial continues to lead this energy revolution, helping San Diego’s educational leaders build a resilient, low-cost energy future. We turn school rooftops into powerful tools for sustainability and student success.
If your school, workshop, or non-profit is ready to follow the lead of the Children’s Workshop and reclaim control over your energy future, contact Stellar Solar Commercial today at 866.787.6527. We provide comprehensive, free site evaluations to help your institution lead the way.