Butler district school board hears about solar panels
Some schools in the Butler Area School District could have their roofs upgraded with solar panels at no cost to the district.
Representatives from several companies presented a plan to the Butler school board at a meeting Monday, Feb. 27, about potentially placing solar panels on school roofs, which they said could save the district money on energy bills once installed. The companies represented at the meeting included the BAI Group, Tremco and Pennsylvania Roofing Systems.
A PowerPoint presentation by the groups said the plan would include roof maintenance for no additional cost. There are tax incentives for companies that provide this service to government and public entities, and the group would help operate the solar panels to harness electricity.
The presentation also said the use of solar power at the school district could save it almost $2.3 million over 30 years, and the district would be saving $5,595,400 overall combined with the roofing work.
The schools that could be outfitted with solar panels are Connoquenessing, McQuistion and Northwest elementary schools, Butler Intermediate High School and Butler Senior High School.
Brian White, district superintendent, said the presentation from the company representatives was only stage one of what could become a long and involved project. He said he will likely invite the presenting companies to have more discussions with the board at a future meeting.
The school board also accepted a lease agreement contract with Verizon Wireless to place signal boosters in the Butler Intermediate High School and Butler Senior High School parking lots.
White said the installation of the communication boosters will help cover parts of the schools’ campuses that have weak signals now.
“They’re not massive,” he said of the size of the devices to be installed. “The primary area is our parking lots and campus area.”
White said the devices are relatively small and that one will be placed on an existing pole in the parking lot, while another will be placed on a pole installed by Verizon.
The communications company will pay the school district $3,000 a year for five years, for a total of $15,000, said the district’s director of finance, Heather Bonzo.
