by Lane Maguire

STA is leasing solar panels for the roofs of Donnelly Hall and the Goppert Center through a BrighterLease program from Brightergy, a renewable energy source provider, for a monthly payment. Because of a state-mandated rebate from the state government, there is no upfront cost for STA. Brightergy says that the monthly lease payment will be less than the cost that the utility company would have charged for the generated electricity. The solar panel’s installation is expected to be completed by the end of September.

“This was one of those things that the board looked at and thought it sounded like a good thing, especially when we are in two Capital Campaigns,” STA president Nan Bone said. “Not having to pay anything and still saving money is awesome.”

STA decided to take advantage of the rebate offered by KCP&L at a May board meeting. Each system has a rebate of $50,000, which means that STA receives a total rebate of $100,000 for the two buildings.

Once completed, the 5 x 3.5 foot solar panels will cover 2,500 square feet of roof spacing on each building, according to the Director of Strategy at Brightergy, Christopher Schaum. Depending on the month, they will produce about 20-50 percent of STA’s total electricity. STA will have access to online monitoring to see how much solar energy the panels are producing, according to Bone. A panel in the hallway will display real time data.

“The great thing about that is we pay a monthly lease, but we save half of that in energy cost,” Bone said. “And the longer we have the panels, the more we save so pretty soon, we end up making money.”

Although “going green” appeals to science teacher Terry Conner as well, her concern is simply having enough space left on the Donnelly roof to put telescopes up for her astronomy class.

Brightergy estimated that on Donnelly, after a 20 year lease, STA will have saved $61, 745. On Goppert, after a 20 year lease, the savings are estimated to be about $45, 125. That adds up to a savings of about $106,000 over 20 years.

“It can be more than that, but that sort of a guarantee,” Bone said. “It all depends on the price of electricity. Our monthly payment will never increase, so we could just save more.”

The solar panels work by producing direct current electricity. That electricity is run through a series of inverters. The inverters create alternating current electricity for the buildings to use. Since the systems don’t store on site, that energy returns to KCP&L’s grid. KCP&L records the kilowatt hours the panels are producing and STA is able to draw from that energy for no cost.

“The school is drawing from that energy instantly and then any excess energy is provided by KCP&L,” Schaum said.

Rockhurst High School, Northwest Missouri State University, Pembrooke High School and the Roasterie Café are also leasing solar panels from Brightergy.

“It’s a no-brainer and a lot of schools are going with Brightergy because of [the environmental impact],” Bone said.