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Galveston school feels power of solar support
Joe Sempa
Correspondent
Published April 22, 2009
GALVESTON — Students and staff members at Satori Elementary School “flipped the switch,” Tuesday on 16 solar panels installed thanks to a grant from Green Mountain Energy.
The new panels will produce about 5,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, saving the school about $3,000 annually, officials said.
Green Mountain funded the project through its Big Texas Sun Club Program, through which customers can allot an additional $5 or more on their monthly energy payment to pay for solar projects by nonprofit organizations.
“One of our parents applied for the grant last spring,” Billie Rinaldi, director of the school, said.
Right after Hurricane Ike, the power company asked if the school had been damaged, she said.
“It was. The entire first floor was destroyed,” she said.
The panels were installed by the Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy Co.
Supervisor Aaron Phillips said the panels are fortified for any future storms.
“We use heavy lag bolts directly installed into the roof joists,” he said.
“We had similar systems that were in Galveston that made it through the hurricane. Most of the house may have been gone, but if the roof was still on, so were our panels.”
Green Mountain was looking for other local solar-power projects to help fund, said Mark Lamping, vice president of sales.
“We invite people to apply through our Web site for similar grant funds,” he said.
“We’d love to help Galveston with other solar projects like this one. We just need to know where the needs are.”
The panels would help illuminate the students as well as the classroom, Rinaldi said.
“We are installing a monitoring Web site to track the power and educate them about the benefits of solar energy,” she said.
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