Schools see solar projects as way to educate, save

Several schools are hoping to add rooftop solar projects to their campuses in order to cut back on annual energy costs – and incorporate an educational component at the same time.
The schools have won state renewable energy grants that, accompanied by a second round of state grants, are expected to lead to rooftop solar projects yielding annual energy savings – and the capacity to use data generated from the equipment as a teaching tool.
In late March, the R.I. Commerce Corporation approved $1.1 million in Renewable Energy Fund grants for 11 solar projects planned by businesses, housing developments and schools. The schools involved include Rocky Hill School and St. Rose of Lima School, both in Warwick; Meeting Street, Community Preparatory School and the Federal Hill House Holy Ghost School, all in Providence.
In addition, West Warwick has applied for solar rooftop projects for its field house and ice rink near its public high school and middle school, and the excess energy generated from those buildings would be used at those two nearby schools, said Town Manager Fred Presley.
“It’s something we’ve always wanted to do, but there have been a lot of other priorities,” said Presley, who learned about the grants when he explored the possibility of doing some rooftop maintenance. “But the time is right, right now,” he said.
According to data supplied by the R.I. Commerce Corporation, all the school and school-related projects won a total of approximately $772,573 and have an estimated potential generating capacity of 727 kilowatts.
Complementary grants from the R.I. Office of Energy Resources’ Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program will make the programs a reality for most schools, said Chris Kearns, OER’s chief of program development, though in certain cases, some school officials indicated they may also need additional funds beyond that to completely pay for their projects.
Rocky Hill, Community Preparatory School, Meeting Street and West Warwick High School were all awarded additional state grants last week.
“The business community is being entrepreneurial, which involves piecing together the various funding sources,” Gold said. Beth DeGerlia, director of development at Rocky Hill School, said the school tries to “put an academic and personal stewardship focus on leading by example, not just what we say but what we do.”
The school is behind the project so much so that if money falls short, DeGerlia believes funds can be raised to complete it.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations about it with parents and trustees, and our community is very excited,” she said. “So, if we had to do some additional fundraising for it, our community would get behind it.”
Newport Renewables Principal Stuart Flanagan, who is consulting with the Rocky Hill School, said annual energy savings at the school’s Flynn Academic Center building will be about 43,000 kilowatt hours, or about $5,000 a year, and will produce 20 percent of the building’s energy consumption. The project is expected to be operational for the 2014-15 academic year, he said.
And at Rocky Hill, the project was conceived of from the start as one that would incorporate learning and use as a teaching tool, DeGerlia added.
“We have an 86-acre campus and we’re right on the water so environmental studies and hands-on learning [are] a big part of our curriculum,” she said. “That ties in really nicely with the solar panels. The unit itself provides data for the classroom, for students. Students have laptops and [will be able to] access real time output data from the solar array.”
In terms of overall savings in utility costs, the range of savings would be 25 percent to 55 percent, with the exception of the Holy Ghost School, which could save close to 100 percent, and the Meeting Street School, which may only save about 15 percent, said Julian Dash, a managing partner with Clean Economy Development of Providence. Dash is consulting with every entity except Rocky Hill.
“We spend on average about $8,600 a month [on energy costs], so you can imagine what $12,000 [in savings] a year will mean to us,” said Amanda McMullen, chief strategy officer for the Meeting Street School, which won a $102,309 grant already but has a total cost of $291,322.
Historically, RGGI funding has been used to help pay for energy-efficiency programs “because that is the most cost-effective way to reduce carbon emissions – to use less electricity,” said Gold. In recent years, however, the funds have helped pay for a portion of renewable energy programming, she said. However, the RGGI funding for schools is a first, she said. “We love the school programs, though, because it’s a win-win. Communities are cash-strapped,” she said. “And we asked [grant applicants] for an educational component – some creative way of letting the kids get involved.”
So far, grants already awarded by the R.I. Commerce Corporation were the first ones delivered under a new “Commercial-scale Grant Program” for large but not-utility-scale individual projects with the REF. Funding comes from ratepayers’ monthly payments on Rhode Island utility bills and alternative- energy-compliance payments from National Grid. Three other companies and a nonprofit also received awards.
Dash provides consulting, development and financing for renewable energy projects, with a focus on the small and medium markets.
“There’s definitely a value for schools and maybe it will become a model for the state to continue investing in schools,” said Dash. “When it comes to renewable energy, one of the largest incentives is 30 percent federal tax credits, but the nonprofits and public schools aren’t able to utilize that. The grants the state is putting in are making these types of projects feasible.”
According to Dash, St. Rose of Lima’s projected annual savings would be $9,600 on a project estimated to cost $243,360. The Community Preparatory project could yield about $7,500 in annual savings, he added. The West Warwick projects have projected annual cost savings of $15,000 for the field house and $20,000 for the ice rink, he said.
Edward Wilson, pastor of the St. Rose of Lima parish and responsible for the school, said the project has both practical and faith-based benefits.
The goal “is to encourage renewable energy among our school faculty and students,” he said, adding, “God asks us to take care of the planet and use and be good stewards of the planet’s resources. This is one way to do that with clean energy and it gives a great message to the community and our students.” •

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