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Schools Going Solar
 

Sacramento Goes into Solar Schools in a Big Way
 

The Sacramento [California, U.S.A.] Municipal Utility District (SMUD), arguably the world’s leading solar power utility, recently added a first to its long list of solar installations: a solar-powered school. In keeping with the scale of SMUD’s solar endeavors, the school system is a whopper. While the typical PV system being installed on school rooftops averages between one and four kilowatts in output (enough to power a handful of classrooms), SMUD’s installation on the Kit Carson Elementary School in Sacramento produces 27.7 kilowatts of electricity. It also employs a cutting-edge PV product: a roofing shingle (or “slate”) made by Atlantis Energy, says Craig Hoellwarth, principal at Quest Consulting and a project designer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This roof of Sacramento’s Kit Carson School is covered with solar electric roof slates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The facility was paid for under SMUD’s Pioneer I program, which promotes solar installations on public buildings. SMUD’s Pioneer program covers the cost of the project, in return for the electricity generated by the system. The school district has the option, at any point in the future, to purchase the PV system. “It’s a very good way for a school to get into using solar energy because it takes away that large first cost,” says Hoellwarth. “When they see the system in place, particularly the solar slates, they are elated.” He notes that the school district liked the idea because of its educational value and for another very pragmatic reason. “They needed to replace the old asphalt shingle roof anyway, so, with the roof-integrated PV, they got one large face of the roof taken care of.”