Clean Energy Advisory Committee October 12, 2026

The City of Wilmington Clean Energy Advisory Committee met on October 12, 2026. It approved the September meeting minutes and heard Campbell University’s Future Cities Fellowship team present a phased plan for municipal solar and battery storage; no procurement award or purchasing vote was made. The students recommended rooftop solar at 15 priority municipal facilities in the first phase, followed by eight additional buildings, with parking lots and the convention center also considered. They identified Q CELLS as the preferred solar-panel option and Tesla Powerwall products for battery storage, but these were study recommendations rather than selected vendors or approved contracts. Their cost models estimated about $36 million using a static model and about $86 million using Monte Carlo analysis; one battery installation estimate was approximately $1.8 million. Potential grants and incentives were estimated at roughly $600,000 to $14 million, with availability and timing uncertain. The plan is intended to support the city’s goals of 50% clean energy for municipal operations by 2035 and 100% by 2050, while addressing coastal durability, resilience, permitting, and recycling.