Feb 28 2011
Buffalo-based, Solar Liberty is installing 489 solar panels on 3 schools at Whitney Point. The $587,000 project is aimed at saving annual energy costs. Solar energy will be converted to electric energy with photovoltaic panels installed at the high school, primary school and the Tioughnioga Riverside Academy.
The Whitney Point central school district is one of the first districts to be powered in Broome County. This comes after 114 solar panels that were installed at the Broome County Public Library last year.
Christopher Kopec from Bearsch Compeau Knudson Architects & Engineers, explains that as the price of solar panels continues to drop, schools are able to afford the payments. With the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority pitching in with a grant of $197,000 to cover initial costs, the school district will be able to save $22,000 on its yearly electricity bills.
Across New York, over 50 university and school buildings have been benefitted by solar energy systems installed by Solar Liberty. Additionally, with the benefits of New York’s net metering program, which lets customers sell unused energy back to the grid, installing solar panels is an incentive to customers. District officials assure that the panels will be installed within a month.