October 23, 2011 - At one Bald Eagle Area School District building, solar panels cover more than half the roof. That's equal to about two-and-a-half football fields-- end zones included.
"It's funny to think, Bald Eagle Area, in the middle of Centre County, one of the most rural school districts -- and this is one of the most high-tech buildings in Pennsylvania," district construction manager Rick Vilello said while standing atop the roof on a foggy day recently.
Lots of districts have tried to lower their energy bills -- from building biomass boilers
to turning off teachers' coffee pots in classrooms. But Bald Eagle Area and Bellefonte Area school districts have taken an unusual approach through a private partnership:
Solar panels provide about half the energy for the Bald Eagle Area middle and high school building, as well as the connected Wingate Elementary School. In the neighboring Bellefonte Area School District, two elementary schools -- Pleasant Gap and Marion-Walker -- and the high school have solar energy systems, too.
So far the savings from solar energy are modest -- about $12,000 at Bald Eagle Area, and less than that in Bellefonte, based on an analysis of data provided by the districts.
But leaders there say the panels didn't cost the districts or local taxpayers any money, serve as an education tool for students, provide certainty for future budgets, and could become bigger cost savers in future years. read more>>>
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