Solar power could be coming to Dexter schools - MLive.com

Solar power could be coming to Dexter schools - mlive.com

DEXTER, MI - Dexter Community Schools wants to bring solar power to its campus to provide sustainable energy to surrounding schools, while also serving as a teaching tool.

The district announced it is launching a community-wide fundraising campaign to help finance the large solar field and solar panel walkway being referred to as the “Walkway to a Sustainable Future.”

An informational session on the prospective project is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in the Mill Creek Middle School cafeteria, 7305 Dexter Ann Arbor Road.

The prospective ground-mounted solar array field would be an estimated 360 feet by 270 feet and located in a field adjacent to the district’s bus hub centrally located behind Wylie Elementary School off of Dan Hoey Road.

Plans also include constructing a solar panel walkway canopy at least 290 feet in length around the bus hub drop-off loop that will provide coverage from the elements for students waiting for the bus.

Conversations about a potential solar project between Dexter students, teachers and administrators date back several years, Superintendent Chris Timmis said.

The district is anticipating a need to replace its service unit that powers four nearby schools. Administrators and students in the high school’s Green Schools Club began engaging with the BRITE Michigan Schools Energy Cooperative to see what opportunities there were to bring solar power on campus and what the possible tax savings would be.

In addition to the cost savings and and committing to green energy, Timmis said having access to solar power generation data and system performance on site is a benefit to students educationally.

“We have four schools worth of students that get picked up and dropped off at this bus hub and the other two buildings are where we do the transfers from,” Timmis said. “We started talking about how it would be great if we had some covered areas there on days it rains there, but it’s also a good location for new (solar) technologies for school access. Our kids could see it, and they can learn from the technology that we can access the data from, right in the backyard of all the schools.”

It is encouraging to see students’ efforts to create green sustainability solutions have made some progress, former Dexter student and Dexter High School Green Schools Club member Eren Buyukbozkirli said.

“When we first teamed up about a year ago, it was to accomplish the goal of making our school - and community - more sustainable,” said Buyukbozkirli, a 2022 DHS graduate. “Since then, our vision has grown larger than we could have ever imagined.”

Timmis estimates the entire project could cost between $800,000 and $1.2 million, depending on a number of factors, with funding coming from a combination of donations from alums, local businesses, the Jenkins Foundation and from school district funds.

DCS has raised $175,000 toward the project during a silent fundraising phase, Timmis said. The district has issued a request for proposals for the project, with a bidding deadline of May 24.

The solar arrays are expected to generate an estimated $60,000 to $70,000 in annual energy savings, with the cost savings covering the total cost of the project within an estimated 12 years, Timmis said.

Once installed, the solar arrays would provide sustainable energy to Anchor, Beacon and Wylie elementary schools, as well as Mill Creek Middle School, connecting to the primary electric service unit at Wylie Elementary School, which serves the four schools and community pool.

For more information on the project or to make a donation, visit the district’s website.

READ MORE:

Tornado watch brings back memories of powerful 2012 Dexter twister

Voters deny Dexter schools recreation millage to fund senior, community centers

Roof replacements, adding solar panels atop more buildings part of AAPS summer plans