RHMS and RCHS make a push towards energy efficiency
Information courtesy of Solar Novus Today with photos by Michelle Dunker
What were the cranes doing in front of Rocky Heights Middle School (RHMS) and Rock Canyon High School (RCHS) who may be wondering? They are busy installing solar panels on the roofs of the two schools.
According to an article published on August 26, 2010 at www.solarnovus.com comes the following information, “Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc. and the Douglas County School District (DCSD) announced they will develop more than 3.0MW of solar electric power-generating projects at 30 schools and one athletic stadium in Douglas County, Colorado. Each of the 30 schools will use roof-mounted solar panels to produce between 40kW and 104kW of electricity per school. The athletic stadium will produce 90kW of electricity from a carport shade structure believed to be the first of its kind in Colorado. In addition, this initiative is believed to one of the five largest ever in Colorado.”
The article goes on to report, “The school district receives a stable source of predictable, lower cost electricity while the third-party gets potential tax credits and the income generated from selling the electricity. The project will cost $18.3 million at no capital, operational, maintenance, insurance, financing or ownership expense to DCSD taxpayers. It is estimated this project can save the district $5.5 million over a 25-year period. The amount of power to be produced by the 31 DCSD sites will total more than 3.0MW. Installation will take approximately nine months to complete.”
