Press. voanews.com
The cost for
individual homes in the U.S. to "go solar" has dropped by more than
60 percent over the last decade. Those low costs helped convince more than a
million Americans to install solar panels on their roofs. Now schools are
beginning to get in on the benefits. One of them is the school system in
Fremont, Indiana. The residents of
this small town in America's upper Midwest have always relied on the sun to
warm their fields and draw tourists to their lakes. Now school superintendent
William Stitt said they’re counting on it to power their schools. "The
technology has advanced so much in the last couple of years that it’s become
more energy efficient, more cost effective for schools to get solar
energy," Stitt said.
Start-up cost
Construction of
the solar project will cost $3 million. But when finished, it will completely
power the elementary, middle and high school buildings. It may generate so much
electricity, that the school will be able to sell some back to the power
company at a profit.
The system will
work through several rows of 3,000-4,000 panels each. They will be located in a
special 2.5 hectare solar field behind the middle school. The district has to
lease the equipment from the local power company for 20 years, at a fixed rate.
But Kim Quick, facility director, said that even with that added cost, the
schools should save money because the panels should last 40 years.
"[It] is
going to cost us approximately the same amount we’re paying for utilities
today. So that cost is never going to increase for the next 20 years,"
Quick said. "So if the power company comes in next year and says, 'We want
to increase utilities 6 percent,' we’re going to pay the same we’re paying
today 20 years from now."
Free
electricity, eventually
In 20 years, the
school district will own the equipment outright, meaning it won’t pay anything
for electricity. Since the panels are always "on," Quick said the
district will save additional money by banking the unused electricity that's
generated when school is not in session.
"These work
year-round. Even in a full moon they will produce electricity," he said. Just
3 percent of the nation’s 125,000 schools use some form of solar energy. While
not all can use solar power cost-effectively, a recent report by the Solar
Foundation found that 72,000 US schools could save money with solar. Schools
could install panels on their roofs or elevate a field of panels over a parking
lot. Those innovations would save most schools an average of $1 million over 30
years.
Educational
component
Going solar also
offers schools an educational component. It provides teachers opportunities to
incorporate lessons in science, technology, engineering, and math into the
curriculum. All three schools in the
Fremont system will have a live display module that kids can visit daily to
learn how much energy is being used and saved.
If all goes
according to plan, Fremont School District’s new solar field will be up and
running by mid-summer. Superintendent Stitt is already looking further ahead. "I’d
love the community and the kids in 40 years to go, 'Man, they made a great
decision 40 years ago by creating this solar project!' ” he said.