Next fall students at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville will have a new opportunity for hands-on learning — five acres of solar panels. 

The panels will supply the campus with about 17% of its annual electricity, saving the university $217,000 a year and allowing classes to continue, even if there's a power failure. The installation will be the largest state-owned solar array and will make the university the sixth-highest on-site producer of renewable energy among institutions of higher education in the nation.