Rockland, Mass. Grade School Follows in Steps of High School, Installs Solar (Stimulus $$$)

[jpak]

http://solar.coolerplanet.com/News/2261002-rockland,-massachusetts-grade-school-follows-in-steps-of-high-school,-installs-solar.aspx

In Rockland, Massachusetts, where the only high school already has its full complement of solar photovoltaic panels, a $150,000 federal grant from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will now allow one of Rockland’s four elementary schools to also install a solar energy system.

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There will, according to school energy committee representative Michael Mullen Jr., be 88 panels, with a nameplate rating for the entire system of about 24 kilowatts, producing about 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is expected to save the town, and the school district, between $4,000 and $6,000 annually.

The two solar arrays are an expression of the school committee’s September 2008 resolution to reduce energy use, according to Mullen, who says the district has already succeeded by more than 20 percent. These reductions have been achieved not only through solar-generated electricity at both schools, but also by lighting upgrades at the high school and more energy-efficient windows and doors at Esten.

The Esten School solar installation is only one example of the kinds of energy enhancements provided under the $13-million in federal funds given to Massachusetts, which have since been distributed to 111 communities.

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[Bitwit1234]

1. I will bet anything that energy companies in the US

are going to find a way to make people pay for this solar energy..wait and see.

[kristopher]

2. No, that's why it has taken so long to get this ball rolling...

You might enjoy The Road Not Taken, a piece by Amory Lovins written in 1976 for Foreign Affairs magazine. You can download it here:
http://www.rmi.org/rmi/Library/E77-01_EnergyStrategyRoadNotTaken