PETERBOROUGH — Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders is pleased to announce that a solar array will soon begin to be installed on the roof of ConVal Regional High School summer at no cost to the district.
ConVal has contracted with Revision Energy to install a 247-kilowatt rooftop solar array on the high school roof. The 555-panel system will be financed at no cost to the district by Revision Energy’s mission-aligned impact investors through a Power Purchase Agreement.
Revision will take the responsibility for the design, permitting, construction utility interconnection, operation, and maintenance of the solar array. ConVal will in turn purchase energy produced by the panels from Revision at a discounted rate of 8.8 cents per kilowatt hour in the first year of the contract. The rate will increase by 2 percent yearly. The district currently pays 16 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity.
Under the agreement, the district has the option after year five — and each year thereafter — to purchase the panels from Revision for the market rate at the time of purchase. If the district does not purchase the array, the panels will remain atop the high school for 25 years, and will be removed at no cost to the district. If the district purchases the panels it would no longer pay for the energy generated by the array.
“This is a great opportunity to have a significant clean energy source powering the high school well into the future,” Superintendent Saunders said. “This program gives the district significant flexibility in how it approaches its energy needs, and we’re excited about finding a cost-effective way to decrease our impact on the environment.”
While the panels will not fulfill 100% of the high school’s electricity needs, they are expected to result in some cost savings on energy. If the district purchases the array, it may save an estimated $825,000 on energy costs over 25 years, and an estimated $2 million over the array’s 40-year lifespan.
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