Greater Jasper schools to look at solar power options
Energy independence and savings are driving school corporations to consider the installation of solar panels.
In Dubois County, Greater Jasper Consolidated School Corporation has joined Southeast Dubois School Corporation in exploring the option.
Southeast held a special meeting last week to discuss the issue. Early estimates have the corporation saving about $2 million over 25 years. It also will relieve the reliance on the general fund. The fund most impacted by the school funding legislation that corporations use to pay for utilities, supplies, teacher pay and benefits.
During the School Board of Trustees meeting Monday, Dr. Tracy Lorey broached the subject.
“By utilizing solar energy we would be able to generate enough power to offset our own consumption,” she said. “And in some cases if we were able to over-generate that power we might be able to put some of that back onto the electrical grid of the companies that serve us.”
She said the corporation is in the early planning stage with the potential project.
“We’re exploring what that might look like. What our facility capacity would be to enter into some sort of a project,” Lorey said. “Obviously, the cost savings to the district would be something we’re very interested in, because any dollars that we don’t have to spend on electrical utilities can be put back into the classroom.”
WITZ AM/FM contributed to this report
Any technology that reduces the need for coal is fine with me. Bring on the solar panels.:-)
Maybe take the idea one step further and also install wind turbines and other forms of “green” energy and use energy generation (both conventional and green methods) as an educational tool for the science classes throughout the school corporation. It could also be co-curricular in that the building trades class, if it is still offered at the high school, could use the maintenance of a green energy system as part of the class since the instillation of these kinds of systems are becoming more widespread.