WYANDOTTE -- Wilson Middle School will go green -- or at least greener -- next month with a solar-powered system designed to help deliver illumination during education.
Installation of the system began Tuesday through a program unique for a school district in the state. Paid for by a $50,000 state grant with another $50,000 kicked in by the city, the 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system will serve as a sort of hybrid energy conservation system and learning tool.
"Every student in Wyandotte goes through Wilson Middle School," said Melanie McCoy, general manager of the service that oversees water and electric providers. "And we, as the municipal service, can put information on our bills and on cable. It's a great mix and a great opportunity for information sharing."
Solar panels on the school's roof will harness sunlight, and the photovoltaic process converts the sun's rays to electricity. Wyandotte Municipal Service will own the system, and lease the school's roof for $1 the first year. A financial agreement will be worked out once those involved have an idea of how much energy the system saves.
McCoy said the municipal service expects the school's bills to be trimmed by about $2,000 a year. The overall energy output will be a fraction -- about 2 percent of the school's needs. But the educational opportunities are invaluable, she said.
"That's the best part -- the visibility that it's going to get," she said. "There's going to be some solar engineers that come out of this."
It takes a three- or four-kilowatt system to fully power an average-size home, said John Sarvar of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
There have been 16 solar projects partially funded via grants since 2002, he said, but never to a K-12 school.
The Wyandotte proposal was the best one the state saw in 2007, he said.
"This is the first installation on a school building that we have done," Sarvar said. "It's a neat partnership with the municipal service and the school system working together."
Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc. is the main contractor and will be responsible for helping shape the energy-related curriculum.
"The idea is to tie the community, the school and the home together with the project," said Ron Stimac, Johnson Controls account executive. "It saves energy and it teaches kids about renewable energy sources and the social responsibility that comes along with taking care of the environment."
The system will, hopefully, be running by April 22 -- Earth Day.
Wyandotte has become an area leader in alternative energy proposals, becoming the first community in Michigan to propose an urban wind energy project. Last month, city officials said they hoped to order the first $2 million turbine and begin construction within a year.
The proposal includes the installation of one turbine at the south end of the BASF property near the city's energy plant and two at the Wyandotte Shores Golf Course and on Central Avenue. The city received a $1 million federal grant in February for the effort. It received another $1 million federal grant in 2006.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm in her State of the State address called for 25 percent of the state's energy demand be filled by alternative energy sources by 2025.
Steve Pardo / The Detroit News
You can reach Steve Pardo at (734) 462-2191 or spardo@detnews.com.
School soaks up sun: New solar panels to help enlighten Wyandotte pupils
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
