LM Nov-Dec_2021

Solar ... cont’d.

School districts can reduce their carbon footprint and save money on the supply portion of their electric bill. I know every district is different, but can you provide an estimate on how much money schools can save by contacting Future Green? You actually don’t just save money on the supply portion. Schools are actually saving money on the supply and the distribution portion of their bill. Typically speaking, a utility bill is about 40 percent supply cost and 60 percent delivery cost. The real benefit to building an onsite system is you’re not getting onto the high transmission power lines and having to go that long haul and pay the extra fees that are incurred by the utility and then passed on to the district. With solar panels, you’re able to generate your own energy onsite and that really knocks out a huge portion of your charges. When we look at districts across Illinois on average, we’re seeing them save anywhere from 25 to 60 percent off their total energy cost by building an on-site system. Well, you hate to say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but we are living in a once- in- a-moment opportunity for school districts. This legislation is very unique. It’s never been done before to provide this pathway for school districts. That’s a credit to the Future Green team. That’s a credit to Econergy. That’s a credit to IASA and our efforts legislatively to get this opened up for school districts. There’s really a moment in time here that’s very unique for school districts to move forward on renewable energy. That’s a substantial savings. Any final thoughts?

Energy Credits. We’ve started to look at their power bills and check out the contracts to prepare to build their systems.

Jason Nevel:

Will there be enough REC’s available for smaller, rural districts?

Jason Nevel:

Haj Young:

I think there are going to be plenty of REC’s available for school districts that show interest early. If you’re rural, if you’re urban or if you’re suburban, I recommend you get on this soon. The other thing we should point out is the law gave districts that are in Tier 1 and Tier 2 priority. To access the renewable energy credits, any district in those tiers should apply quickly. Once Future Green gets the list of bills, we will work with the district to figure out if the district wants to do a ground-mounted or roof-mounted system. If they’re going to do a roof-mounted system, the size of your system is really limited to the size of your roof. If you want to do a ground-mounted system, it’s similar. The district would have to identify the area where they want to put the solar system and then give that information over to Future Green. Future Green would do a study and put together a rendering of what the solar array would look like and how much the district would save. After the district approves, Future Green sends an engineer to verify what they believe on paper is possible. Typically for systems that are 200 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts, it takes about three to five weeks to build. Systems that are 500 Kilowatts and up, it may take five to seven weeks to build. Keep in mind that while the emphasis of the legislation, and of course the idea of this podcast, is to talk about onsite installation of renewable energy solar panels, school districts can still call Future Green and learn more about how to procure energy that is produced in a green way and distributed to your school. What’s the process to get the panels installed?

Dr. Brent Clark:

Haj Young:

Jason Nevel: Haj Young:

Jason Nevel:

Dr. Brent Clark:

Dr. Brent Clark:

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LM Nov./Dec. 2021