Highlands School District will all but eliminate an electric bill for its greenhouse with the installation of solar panels. The move could mean savings of up to $70,000 over the next 25 years, according to experts at PA Solar Center, a Pittsburgh-based advisory group that facilitated the initiative.
"Electricity rates have increased a lot in last 10 years and they're expected to keep climbing," said Leo Kowalski, the center's director of transformation. "The district has done a good job of foreseeing that and putting solar in to keep costs down."
Utility costs have risen by 6% over the past 10 years and by 8.5% over the past five years, Kowalski said. PA Solar Center is an online resource hub that helps usher people into clean energy use. Founder and Executive Director Sharon Pillar said her group helped connect Highlands with a Google/employee matching grant to pay for the project. The employee provided $10,000 and Google matched that, Pillar said.
The center helped complete a feasibility study for the school's solar system through the GET Solar technical assistance program. The group has provided similar assessments for Wesley Family Services in New Kensington, where solar is expected to save the nonprofit up to $700,000 over 25 years. They also assisted East Vandergrift officials, where the solar array on the borough building roof offsets 100% of the building's energy use.
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