TUNKHANNOCK, Pa. — The Tunkhannock Area School Board approved an agreement with GreenWorks Development last month to install solar panels on school grounds.
District officials say they've spent nearly two years on research and financial analysis for the roughly $10 million project after seeing an increase in electricity costs.
Chief Operating Officer Charles Suppon says solar was the best financial option.
"We have a lot of things that are run by electricity in our district, like our high school pool and different buildings where it made sense to at least begin to look at solar as an option," said Suppon.
"The opportunity to save upwards of $20 million over the course of 40 years is something that could not be ignored," Tunkhannock Area Superintendent Paul Dougherty said.
There will be some ground panels near a couple of the schools. The rest will be out of sight.
"Most of the solar arrays will be on the roof of each facility that we have. What's nice is you really don't see it. They sit on the roof at a 10-degree angle. So, if you're in the parking lot, you wouldn't even know they were up there," said Dougherty.
District officials believe it's not only an investment for the district's bottom line, but also an investment in the students.
"They'll have the opportunity to go out and be hands-on and learn about that technology in that process and really kind of investigate and see how they operate," Dougherty said.
Suppon says the district will pay a down payment of up to $2 million, and a significant portion of the project cost will be offset by a federal solar credit. In the end, the district will eventually be in the green for going green.
"We're estimating a million dollars roughly, that can go up or down depending on numbers and based on savings in a year, once this has paid off and we're only paying distribution back to the grid," said Suppon.
District officials say once work on installing the panels begins, they expect to flip the switch to turn the panels on in about a year and a half.