New solar array sends power to school building and young minds at Northwood - WTVG
New solar array sends power to school building and young minds at Northwood
NORTHWOOD, Ohio (WTVG) - The sun made an appearance Friday as students from Northwood schools celebrated a new beginning as the district prepares to receive power from its newly installed 296-kilowatt solar array.
“There is no cost to the district other than purchasing the electricity from a different source at a lower price,” Jason Kozina, superintendent of Northwood schools said.
The solar array, which consists of 714 panels manufactured in Georgia, was designed, and installed by GEM Energy, a member of the Rudolph Libbe Group of Walbridge, Ohio.
“They went and found an investment group, Madison Investments, that came in and they paid for it, they technically own it, the school purchases that power from them at a much lower rate,” Kozina said.
Kozina said the solar array will power 30 to 40 percent of the school which opened new in 2017 and houses grades pre-K through 12.
“Believe it will save anywhere from five to six percent of our electrical costs short term,” Kozina said. “And as electrical rates increase the long-term payoff could be even better.”
The new solar array will not only be used to help power the school, but also the data that the panels collect will be used inside the school for education.
“We can check, you know, how much usage of the solar arrays’ going on during the day,” Lara Fish, who teaches 5th grade science said. “We can check and see whether one of the panels is working or not working.
“We can see how much electricity is being used by the school, so all of those things, the students can be collecting that data, which is an essential part of science,” Fish said.
Fifth-grade student Riley Tucker knows a thing or two about solar panels, her mom works at a local factory that makes them.
“My mom makes them, and so I get to go inside her company and like learn about them even more,” Tucker said. “They contract the sun so the electric bills don’t go up all the way.”
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Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar
Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.