Notre Dame goes solar for power, education – News – The Hawk Eye Newspaper

Notre Dame Catholic Schools has taken Pope Francis’ advocacy for renewable energy to heart with the installation of 836 solar panels.

“This is part of what Pope Francis has said about conserving and being good stewards of the environment, so I think we’re being role models for our kids in doing that,” Notre Dame High School Principal Bill Maupin said Wednesday after a day spent getting ready for the first day of school.

The school began the process of getting the solar panels about a year and a half ago after John Fruehling, owner of Precision Energy Services, whose family is involved with Notre Dame, came forward with the idea of Notre Dame hosting the panels on its campus and purchasing the system’s electric output from a private limited liability company that can use state and federal solar tax programs not available to nonprofits, rather than from Alliant Energy.

Through the power purchase arrangement, facilitated by Precision and Red Lion Renewables, the school pays the LLC a set amount for energy costs — about $500 less per month than what the schools’ budget billing is now — for about 12 1/2 years, at which point Notre Dame will be able to purchase the solar panel system from the LLC, which assumes all operational and maintenance risks up until that point, at a discounted price.

The panels have a lifespan of 25 to 30 years.

“Hopefully, in 12 1/2 years, our electrical bill will be just for the Alliant box,” Maupin said.

The 276-kilowatt system will provide enough energy to cover an estimated 95 percent of Notre Dame’s energy needs.

“The amount of sunlight that strikes the earth’s surface in just one hour delivers enough free energy to power the world economy for an entire year,” Brian Fleming, business development director of Precision Energy, said Wednesday in a press release.

While the cost savings will be a definite plus for the school, which also recently installed LED lighting to reduce its energy consumption, Maupin is more excited about the educational opportunities the solar energy system will provide students.

“The kids will be able to get on their Chromebooks and actually watch what’s being produced, how it’s being used,” he said. “They will integrate this into the science classes, quite possibly a social studies class, just talking about renewable resources.”

Students will be able to see how much energy is being produced in real time during different types of weather. They also will be able to monitor the panels to see if anything goes wrong. Some students already took advantage of the panels, earning Silver Cord hours by being there during their installation.

Notre Dame will celebrate the solar panels with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at 702 S. Roosevelt Ave. The public is invited to attend.