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NJ School Spends $1.2 Million on Solar Installation

In Mansfield Township, New Jersey, voters will be asked on Dec. 8 to approve or reject two proposals that would repair the roof of the John Hydock Elementary School and add solar panels.

The total cost of the project is estimated at about $1.6 million, with the first portion – replacing more than 30,000 square feet of the 21-year-old roof – valued at about $639,000 but costing taxpayers about $333,000, thanks to a loan from the state’s Schools Development Authority, or SDA, which is in turn funded through the state legislature. This works out to an average $6 a year for average-priced homes in the township.

The second part of the referendum proposes to install about 19,000 square feet of solar panels on the new roof, whose surface will consist of ethylene propylene diene Monomer (EPDM), a high-density synthetic rubber.

The solar panel installation will cost more than $1.2 million, but is expected to save the school district $21,768 yearly in utility costs from Public Service Electric and Gas Co., or PSE&G.

The school district will also avail itself of $686, 644 in the form of a low-interest loan from the SDA, with an estimated $58,000 in Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, or SRECs, earned from the solar array that could help offset the eventual cost of the referendum.

If the voters approve the roof, but not the solar panels, a new roof will be installed sans panels. Obviously, if the voters approve the solar installation but not the roof, school officials will be unable to do either, since the current roof is would not support panel installation due to the type of construction.

If both are approved, the work would begin in the summer of 2010, after summer vacation starts, and likely be completed by winter.

The solar installation would also be incorporated into the school’s curriculum, according to Superintendent Diane Bacher, who said the solar installation would simply be an extension of the school’s existing “green” theme, which emphasizes recyling, cleaning with environmentally safe cleaning agents, and not using pesticides or other unnecessary chemicals on school grounds.

Bacher also noted that a defeat would preclude the district from taking advantage of both the SDA’s $255,720 roof replacement grant and the $686,644 in debt service aid for the panels.

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Clean Energy Record – NJN News Environment Report