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CHS, Where the Sun ShinesCoronado High School installs solar panels on roofs of the school as result of contracts between SUSD and SolarCity Corp. By Juliet Garcia Coronado High School will be one of the first schools in the state to have solar panels installed on the roofs of the school. The Arizona Corporation Commission voted on September 9, 2009 to approve contracts between the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) and SolarCity Corp. of Foster City, California, allowing solar panels to be installed on the roofs of Coronado as well as Desert Mountain High School. The contract rate is 11 cents per kilowatt hour—the size of Coronado’s system is 399.6 kilowatts—and spans for 15 years. Coronado is able to afford the solar panels thanks to a grant that David Peterson, Head of Facilities and CFO for SUSD, applied for. Although the solar panels themselves are expensive, the district is estimated to save $1.3 million over the next fifteen years because of reduced electricity costs. In twenty-five years, the district is estimated to save $4.7 million, while Coronado itself saves $1,017,621. These savings will be very useful, especially with how the economy has greatly affected schools. “Solar panels would be amazing because then the money used on electricity could be used for other things such as school supplies and things our school might need,” Shannon Patterson, 10, said. As well as being good for the school’s budget, solar panels will also be better for the environment. Dedrique Dixon, 12, agrees by saying, “It’s a great way to save energy by using solar panels instead of using regular electricity from [coal] power plants.” The solar panels will help reduce the amount of pollution—that literally encircles the city—which will help to clean our environment and thus reduce our carbon footprint considerably. The installation of the solar panels began while Coronado students were on fall break and continued once school was back in session, as most students and teachers have noticed. The type of solar panels being installed on the school is First Solar, module FS-275. The solar panels on Coronado are expected to be up and running by the end of November. |
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