Woodward Middle School will soon be the proud owner of about 240 solar panels, at almost no cost to the Bainbridge Island School District.
On Jan. 4 the city of BI invited local governmental agencies to apply for a 120-kilowatt solar system to be installed and paid for by the city, as part of its climate initiative process. Dane Fenwick, director of facilities and capital projects at BISD, jumped at the chance.
The school was selected after a consultation with five city engineers, who assessed Woodward’s transformer infrastructure, electrical switches and other gear. What it came down to, Fenwick recalled, was the size and angle of Woodward’s roof. At about 98,000 square feet, the school has a “generally large roof,” with plenty of horizontal, south-facing elements, which made it a prime candidate for the project.
“Woodward is a unique building in our district. There are only two buildings in our district that are all-electric, meaning no other thermal heating or cooling source,” Fenwick said.
Between installation, materials and personnel costs, the city’s donation to the district will be about $800,000, not including monthly savings of up to $1,100 on the district’s power bill. Power generated by the panels will cover about 8% of the school’s energy use over a year.
“I see forty thousand additional square feet that we could use for solar panel installation, essentially tripling the size of the system,” Fenwick said, adding this one takes up about 16,000. “Eventually, we could get somewhere, especially during the summer months.”
School boardmembers Robert Cromwell, Evan St Clair and Mark Emerson noted that the solar project is an excellent learning opportunity. “I think what’s most important about this isn’t just that we took advantage of an opportunity that [the city] provided to us, but also the learning opportunity for you, your staff, the maintenance electricians that we’re going to work with in putting the project in,” Cromwell said. “As you pointed out, there’s still a lot of roof space on Woodward and the rest of the district properties, and so especially as we look forward to the possible replacement of Commodore and Ordway structures, thinking through what that looks like, having some actual experience under our belt.”
St Clair and Emerson added that the district’s Career and Technical Education programs would also benefit. “There’s probably an opportunity, with this many trained and qualified engineers and construction workers, to have a presentation for the Woodward students on what solar arrays look like and how they work,” St Clair said. “I bet we can excite at least a couple about what they could potentially learn for their own futures.”
