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<DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Calibri>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Calibri>g</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com">Ted Moffett</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, July 22, 2011 5:48 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A
title="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">Moscow Vision 2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Genesee School Installs 50 kilowatt (kW)
PhotovoltaicSystem</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<H2 class=date-header><SPAN>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?</SPAN></H2>
<H2 class=date-header><SPAN><A
href="http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html"><FONT
title="http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html CTRL + Click to follow link"
size=2>http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html</FONT></A></SPAN></H2>
<H2 class=date-header><SPAN>Wednesday, July 13, 2011</SPAN></H2>
<DIV class=date-posts>
<DIV class=post-outer>
<DIV class="post hentry"><A name=2660390995729175296></A>
<H3 class="post-title entry-title">Genesee School gets energy boost from ARRA
grant. </H3>
<H3 class="post-title entry-title">Written By Holly Bowen - Moscow Daily News.
Printed July 2, 2011 </H3>
<P class="post-title entry-title">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.<BR>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.<BR>Genesee School received almost
$260,000 of that funding, Superintendent Wendy Moore said.<BR>Crews from the
Spokane-based Power City Electric began installation of the school's solar
panels in May and finished work this Thursday.<BR>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.<BR>"It's pretty impressive,"
Moore said Thursday while looking at the rooftop arrays.<BR>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.<BR>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.<BR>He said the modules absorb sunlight and generate electricity even
when it's cloudy, but the best conditions occur on cold, clear days.<BR>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.<BR>"It's just like looking through the
windshield of a car," he said about the glass covering the solar cells.<BR>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.<BR>"It's like hooking a bunch of batteries
together," Middleton said.<BR>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.<BR>"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."<BR>He said the photovoltaic
modules are under a 25-year warranty, while the inverter box is warrantied for
20 years.<BR>Moore said the solar array has already and will continue to serve
as a learning opportunity for Genesee students.<BR>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.<BR>"The physics
class worked on it last year," Moore said.<BR>The students made measurements and
calculated the number of watts the school could potentially produce.<BR>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.<BR>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.<BR>He said photovoltaic systems are
becoming an increasingly cheaper alternative energy option because mass
production is driving down the price of components. </P>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both"></DIV>
<DIV class=post-footer>
<DIV class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"><SPAN
class="post-author vcard">Posted by <SPAN class=fn>Wendy Moore</SPAN>
</SPAN><SPAN class=post-timestamp>at <A class=timestamp-link
title="permanent link"
href="http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html"
rel=bookmark><ABBR class=published title=2011-07-13T13:18:00-07:00><FONT
color=#223344>1:18 PM</FONT></ABBR></A> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-2"><SPAN
class=post-labels></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV
class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3">------------------------------------------</DIV>
<DIV class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3">Vision2020 Post: Ted
Moffett</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<P>
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