Board asks staff to study solar panels on school roofs; operations cite technical limits and existing pilot installations
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Summary
Trustees asked operations to examine whether solar installations could reduce district energy costs; staff noted two existing instructional arrays and cautioned about roof types, storm vulnerability and lifecycle costs.
A board member asked the district to study installing solar panels on school roofs as a way to reduce energy costs and increase resilience. Operations staff said the district would review feasibility, noting technical and financial issues.
Operations staff reported that small solar arrays are already installed at two district schools (Global Learning Academy and a prior installation at George Stone) primarily for instruction and not sized to power the full schools. Staff explained many district buildings have EPDM membrane roofs; traditional panel mounts penetrate the roofing membrane and raise leak concerns, though newer adhesive mounting systems reduce penetrations. Staff also warned that panels and mounting systems can be vulnerable in strong storms and that maintenance, cleaning and eventual replacement (panels and batteries have multi-year lifespans) are factors in lifecycle costs.
Trustees and staff discussed alternatives such as ground-mounted systems or battery-storage options to provide resiliency during outages. One trustee noted residential battery backups had reduced reliance on utilities in personal experience; operations staff said energy managers would evaluate potential scale, return on investment, storm risk and whether selling power back to the utility or installing battery storage made sense for district facilities.
The board directed operations to analyze feasibility, costs, life-cycle maintenance, potential utility arrangements and pilot options and to report findings back to the board.