[Vision2020] Genesee School Installs 50 kilowatt (kW) PhotovoltaicSystem

[Gary Crabtree]

One does have to wonder why the story neglects to mention just how much less the school district projects that it will have to pay on it's monthly power bill and at what point, if ever, the savings will be equal to over a quarter of a million taxpayer dollars.

g


From: Ted Moffett 
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2011 5:48 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020 
Subject: [Vision2020] Genesee School Installs 50 kilowatt (kW) PhotovoltaicSystem


I wonder if any tea party loyalists against federal liberal tax and spend Obama policies are going to condemn this Genesee school solar array as a waste of tax dollars?
http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Genesee School gets energy boost from ARRA grant. 
Written By Holly Bowen - Moscow Daily News. Printed July 2, 2011 
The solar panels are up, the switches have been turned on and now Genesee School is generating its own electricity thanks to a grant from the Idaho Office of Energy Resources.
Genesee Joint School District officials learned in January their school was one of only nine across the state to receive part of the $2.75 million worth of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds set aside by the state energy office for the installation of solar panels at public K-12 schools.
Genesee School received almost $260,000 of that funding, Superintendent Wendy Moore said.
Crews from the Spokane-based Power City Electric began installation of the school's solar panels in May and finished work this Thursday.
Rows of black photovoltaic modules - 192 in total - now cover the white roof of the school's gymnasium and face south to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
"It's pretty impressive," Moore said Thursday while looking at the rooftop arrays.
Jeff Middleton, project manager with Power City Electric, said the 50 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic system will supplement the school's energy supply, meaning the school district will now pay less on its monthly power bill.
The amount of energy generated by the system varies depending on temperature and the amount of sunlight, he said, making it difficult to estimate just how much the school will end up saving.
He said the modules absorb sunlight and generate electricity even when it's cloudy, but the best conditions occur on cold, clear days.
The solar panels require relatively little maintenance - Middleton said an engineer determined the modules can handle the winter snow load, and it's normal to clean the arrays a couple times a year.
"It's just like looking through the windshield of a car," he said about the glass covering the solar cells.
The direct current (DC) power generated by the modules travels by wire inside conduit to an inverter box that transforms it into alternating current (AC) electricity to be used by the school.
"It's like hooking a bunch of batteries together," Middleton said.
He said people originally tried to store solar power in batteries, but it's much more cost-effective to convert and use the energy right away.
"In general, you get whatever you can get, invert it to AC and then use it while you have it," he said. "Somebody'll use it somewhere. If you don't use it, it will go back on the grid."
He said the photovoltaic modules are under a 25-year warranty, while the inverter box is warrantied for 20 years.
Moore said the solar array has already and will continue to serve as a learning opportunity for Genesee students.
She said science teacher Jen Pollard wrote the grant with help from maintenance supervisor Todd Dahmen. Pollard also involved her students in the planning process.
"The physics class worked on it last year," Moore said.
The students made measurements and calculated the number of watts the school could potentially produce.
She said meters on the photovoltaic system are connected to the school's computer network, so students and teachers will be able to monitor the amount of power their school is generating.
Middleton said because the project was funded by federal stimulus dollars, the vast majority of the components used had to be manufactured in the United States. He said many of the parts for Genesee School's solar array were made in Oregon.
He said photovoltaic systems are becoming an increasingly cheaper alternative energy option because mass production is driving down the price of components. 

Posted by Wendy Moore at 1:18 PM 
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett


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