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Brentwood board hears update on $200,000 solar tax rebate application and new production dashboard
Summary
Central office staff told the Brentwood School Board the district completed the application steps for a federal solar tax rebate and showed a new dashboard tracking site production; board requested monthly summaries and access for committee members and teachers.
Molly (central office staff) told the Brentwood School Board on May 5 that the district has completed the initial steps to secure a federal tax rebate for its solar array and has launched a dashboard showing real-time and historical production.
Molly said the district obtained an IRS application number and "the tax returns... were mailed to the IRS on April 10," and that the rebate amount was "just shy of $200,000, I believe." She said the district has not yet received a response from the IRS and that staff will continue to follow up.
Board members also saw a live demonstration of a production dashboard provided by Barrington Power. Molly described three dashboard views: a "total overview and usage," a year history by day/week/month and a slideshow of daily production. She said the dashboard shows kilowatt-hours by inverter and can calculate environmental savings and net metering export in high-production months.
Board members asked for regular, concise reporting. A board member suggested "a monthly report that, you know, over the past month, we generated x kilowatts. We used y kilowatts." Molly and other staff agreed to provide a monthly summary and to create logins for committee members who had served on the solar committee so they can view the dashboard. Molly also said staff could work with Barrington Power on classroom-level educational materials and coordinate company visits for students.
The board discussed using the production data for future budget planning and to estimate electricity cost savings. Molly said the district will compare current electric spend with prior years after more months of production are recorded and will project long-term savings for budget planning.
Board members asked for a standing agenda item on solar production. Molly said staff will prepare a monthly summary showing generation, usage and net export and will share access for appropriate staff and committee members.
The presentation was informational; no formal board vote was required or taken on the rebate or dashboard at the meeting.
