Solar array at Barker Central School District continues to generate savings
BARKER — The solar array on the grounds of the Barker school district is continuing to see positive returns in covering the schools’ electricity consumption. For about a year, eight rows of solar panels placed on four acres on the west side of the campus, facing Haight Road, have been supplying energy to the district’s buildings.
According to Superintendent Jake Reimer, the district has already seen $48,000 in savings and anticipates approximately year-over-year savings of $60,000. “It continues to go very, very well for us,” he said.
Over the summer months, particularly May through June, the array generated about as much electricity as the district used in that span. Reimer noted production is exceeding projections and he believes that it will translate to more savings on the district’s electricity bills.
During that span, the array produced between 98,000 and 111,000 kilowatt hours. The district used an average of 108,000 kwh per month. “We have a meter that shows exactly how much energy we put onto the grid. All of the electricity goes on the grid and none is stored in batteries on site. We get credit for all the electricity we produce that is applied to what we consume to thus reduce our total expense on electricity,” Reimer explained.
This month, the district anticipates energy generation from the grid will cover about 65% of all the energy it uses. We didn’t think we’d be able to produce on an average month all of the energy that we have consumed,” Reimer said.
The array, which was installed by Buffalo-based Solar Liberty on the school property in 2022, was not connected to the grid until October 2023 due to some “hiccups” that were “completely due to National Grid’s processes.”
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