Like the Beatles, students at Olympia’s Roosevelt Elementary School reap lasting benefits whenever someone says ‘Here comes the sun.’ Thanks to Community Solar donations and the generosity of Lacey’s award-winning Sunset Air, their solar panels are exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Installed in 2013, the Roosevelt solar array is a striking example of how our region embraces all things green and renewable. The Sunset Air family also has a long tradition of giving back to our community. In solar alone, they’ve spearheaded installations at the Shelton Civic Center, Willapa Valley Elementary, the Olympia Farmers Market, and Saint Martin’s LEED-certified Cebula Hall.
Sunset Air Commercial Project Manager Jacob Alexander is excited that the 2014-2015 school year will offer “the first full recording and picture of the system. Everything to date is on track and an annual picture is showing above average production for the year. To date the system has produced a little over 100,000 kilowatt-hours of power and climbing with each sunny day or clear moonlight night.”
Since the average American home uses only 11,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, you can imagine what a financial and environmental savings this is to the school, district, and community overall.
Because of green upgrades like these, the Olympia School District was named a “Green District Leader.” In 2013 the district was recognized for its goals of energy conservation and granted a Jobs Now Grant for Energy Efficiency by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. This money was part of the initial funding for the Roosevelt solar project.
In recent years, solar energy has proven an easy way to reduce energy costs and reliance on outside power supplies. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) reports that “The U.S. Solar industry achieved another record year in 2014, growing by 34% over 2013…With over 195,000 installations in 2014, nearly 645,000 U.S. homes and businesses have now gone solar. In 2014, a new solar project was installed every 2.5 minutes.”
SEIA’s report ‘Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools’ was released in 2014. It is “the first nationwide assessment of how solar energy helps to power schools in communities across America. Most importantly, the report shows that thousands of schools are already cutting their utility bills by choosing solar, using the savings to pay for teacher salaries and textbooks.” They’ve shown that “there are 3,752 K-12 schools in the United States with solar installations, meaning nearly 2.7 million students attend schools with solar energy systems.” These schools receive an average of $21,000 a year in extra funds thanks to their solar arrays.
Politics aside, we can all agree that schools are often underfunded. Solar is one simple way the buildings can pay for themselves, 24 hours a day, even during summer vacation.
To learn more about commercial or residential solar installation, contact Sunset Air at 360-456-4956.
