Officials from Penn Environment Research and Policy Center recently visited Exeter School District’s Owatin Creek Elementary School to unveil the nonprofit group’s study “Solar Schools for Pennsylvania: Repowering Education with Clean Energy.”
The research shows that by installing solar panels the 18 school districts in Berks County could save about $12 million over the 30-year lifespan of the arrays and reduce harmful air pollution like carbon dioxide by nearly 9,800 tons.
The study found that those solar arrays could produce enough energy to power nearly 7,500 homes and ease the pressure felt by school districts with the rising cost of energy — typically the second largest expense for school districts behind only salaries.
“Repowering Pennsylvania’s schools with solar energy can pay dividends for local taxpayers, our health and our planet,” said Carolena Bellini, clean energy associate for Penn Environment. “There’s never been a better time for schools to go solar.”
Bellini said the roughly 5,000 school buildings across the state — including 134 in Berks — are perfect settings for solar arrays, with expansive amounts of free roof space and extensive parking lots able to house large solar systems.
“The potential is huge,” she said.
In total, the state’s schools could produce enough electricity to power 187,000 homes each year and reduce climate-warming carbon dioxide equal to removing nearly 300,000 cars from Pennsylvania roads.
Penn Environment chose to unveil its study at Owatin Creek because the school is soon to be the site of the very type of solar array the group is encouraging schools to install.
In August the Exeter School Board approved a nearly $4 million contract with Trane, a global provider of heating, ventilating and air conditioning and building management systems and controls, to construct a solar farm at the school.
Board President Jason Mell said during the press conference with Penn Environment that the project — which will be partly funded by state and federal grants and rebates — is expected to end up being a boon for the district.
“The Exeter Township School District is excited about the cost-saving opportunities we can pass along to our taxpayers by choosing to install a solar farm at Owatin Creek,” Mell said. “This project is estimated to save our taxpayers more than $10 million over the next 30 years. Best of all, our district was able to proceed with this project with minimal upfront costs thanks to generous grants and rebates that our administration worked hard to secure.”
Mell said the solar panels that will be installed on Owatin Creek’s roof will produce about 40 percent of the electricity needed to operate the district’s seven school buildings and maintenance garage. And that, he said, will help the district deal with expensive energy costs.
“By thinking outside the box, this project is one way the district can combat rising costs,” he said.
In order to make sure other districts can follow Exeter’s lead, Penn Environment is recommending local, state and federal officials take “commonsense steps,” including renewing and expanding the state’s Solar for Schools grant program and restoring recently repealed federal solar incentives.
To read the full Penn Environment report visit environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/center/resources/solar-schools-for-pennsylvania.
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