Mt. Aviat Academy has sat upon a lofty hill in Childs for more than a half century, but starting this month the Catholic school will be able to harness power from its position to power the school.
It all started with an energy-sucking hot water tank, said Sister John Elizabeth Callaghan, principal of the school.
Summer - "2012"
“It really is amazing what is happening here,” she said. “To think it all started with a hot water tank.”
“It was something that we had been looking to replace for about 10 or 12 years now,” she said Wednesday. “We started looking into replacing it again in November 2010 and as we started investigating our options we came across solar power.”
After researching solar power and how panels could convert sunlight to energy capable of producing hot water, the school investigated building their own solar panel array, Callaghan said.
We soon found out just how cost prohibitive installing our own system would be,” she said.
Mt.Aviat began exploring the option of a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, though, Callaghan added. In that program, the school would not be required to make a capital investment on the solar panels, but could supply land and a contract guaranteeing power purchase for a set period of time, she explained
.
They researched specialty contractors who could do the work for the school and line up an investor for the solar panels.
“We met Greg Brown of Greenlight Energy inVirginia, who was just so helpful in walking us through the process,” Callaghan said. “He explained each hurdle that we would have to surpass as we went.”
Greenlight essentially finds an investor to purchase the solar panels, whileMt.Aviatagrees to give an easement to the company for the installation. The anonymous investor then receives the federal tax credits associated with the green energy technology as well as a share of the returns. Greenlight then receives a long-term contract for energy payments from the school, while the school is able to buy the sun-produced energy from Greenlight at rates nearly 25 percent below rates offered by Delmarva Power, with fixed rate increases.
“The fixed rates allows the school to plan its budget much easier year to year,” Callaghan said.
The installation of 3,750 solar panels near the school’s parking lot has caused quite a buzz of excitement from faculty and students alike, she added.
“The school is always looking for new ways to educate students on green energy,” Callaghan said. “The students are all super excited and asking to see the panels and about how the work. We’ve learned ourselves that the sun produces enough energy in one day to power the entire planet for a year.”
She added that units on energy production and how coal and nuclear power production cause some pollution will likely be emphasized in school curriculum this year.
When asked if she ever thought the school’s founders could have imagined that it would one day run entirely on the power of the sun, Callaghan laughed.
Mt. Aviat Academy has sat upon a lofty hill in Childs for more than a half century, but starting this month the Catholic school will be able to harness power from its position to power the school.
It all started with an energy-sucking hot water tank, said Sister John Elizabeth Callaghan, principal of the school.
“It was something that we had been looking to replace for about 10 or 12 years now,” she said Wednesday. “We started looking into replacing it again in November 2010 and as we started investigating our options we came across solar power.”
After researching solar power and how panels could convert sunlight to energy capable of producing hot water, the school investigated building their own solar panel array, Callaghan said.
“We soon found out just how cost prohibitive installing our own system would be,” she said.
Mt.Aviatbegan exploring the option of a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, though, Callaghan added. In that program, the school would not be required to make a capital investment on the solar panels, but could supply land and a contract guaranteeing power purchase for a set period of time, she explained.
They researched specialty contractors who could do the work for the school and line up an investor for the solar panels.
“We met Greg Brown of Greenlight Energy inVirginia, who was just so helpful in walking us through the process,” Callaghan said. “He explained each hurdle that we would have to surpass as we went.”
Greenlight essentially finds an investor to purchase the solar panels, whileMt.Aviatagrees to give an easement to the company for the installation. The anonymous investor then receives the federal tax credits associated with the green energy technology as well as a share of the returns. Greenlight then receives a long-term contract for energy payments from the school, while the school is able to buy the sun-produced energy from Greenlight at rates nearly 25 percent below rates offered by Delmarva Power, with fixed rate increases.
“The fixed rates allows the school to plan its budget much easier year to year,” Callaghan said.
The installation of 3,750 solar panels near the school’s parking lot has caused quite a buzz of excitement from faculty and students alike, she added.
“The school is always looking for new ways to educate students on green energy,” Callaghan said. “The students are all super excited and asking to see the panels and about how the work. We’ve learned ourselves that the sun produces enough energy in one day to power the entire planet for a year.”
She added that units on energy production and how coal and nuclear power production cause some pollution will likely be emphasized in school curriculum this year.
When asked if she ever thought the school’s founders could have imagined that it would one day run entirely on the power of the sun, Callaghan laughed.
“It really is amazing what is happening here,” she said. “To think it all started with a hot water tank.”
