FLUSHING—The Flushing Community School District and Rockville, Md.-based Standard Solar Inc. have announced the completion of a seven-site solar energy array for the school district.
The project is expected to generate nearly a megawatt of electricity for the district, saving taxpayers $45,000 annually and $900,000 over the life of the contract with Standard Solar.
In a public-private partnership, Standard Solar designed, built, financed, and will operate and maintain solar arrays at all seven schools within the Flushing district.
A ribbon cutting celebrating the project’s completion was held on Aug. 20 at Flushing High School. The event featured Flushing Superintendent Tim Stein and Standard Solar Director of Business Development Daryl Pilon.
Roof-mounted arrays were installed on Springview Elementary, Central Elementary, Seymour Elementary, Early Child Center, and Flushing Middle School. Ground-mounted arrays were installed at Elms Elementary and Flushing High School. The energy produced by these seven arrays will offset approximately 84 percent of the district’s entire current electric loads, the greenhouse gas emissions from 174 passenger vehicles driven for one year and the CO2 emissions from 98.2 homes’ yearly energy use.
“We have always made energy conservation and global citizenship a priority,” Stein said. “When we began to explore the possibilities of further improving the efficiencies of our buildings and modeling for our students the importance of renewable energy, this project came to life.”
Added Pilon: “Through our public-private partnership, we provide access to expertise and innovation at each stage of the project development, significantly adding value to educational facilities like Flushing Community Schools who are looking to reduce their energy costs.”
The solar project was completed in tandem with an energy performance contract with Trane Corp. Technical assistance to the district was provided by Performance Contracting Owner Representative LLC. Miller Canfield’s renewable energy finance team acted as legal counsel for the school district.
More at www.standardsolar.com