Namaste Solar installs several hundred solar panels on TJ’s roof as the school goes green.
Photo by Mia Nogueira
Prompted by state law mandating that 20% of DPS energy comes from renewable resources, and thanks to a public-private partnership between DPS and three local energy companies, funding was secured for the installation of several hundred solar panels on the roof of TJ that began on August 31, 2010.
Beginning the third week of the new school year, crews at TJ began to mount several hundred solar panels on the roof here at TJ near the south-west teachers’ parking lot. “The response to the solar panels has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Assistant Principal Scott Lessard.
Joining five other DPS schools so far in the project, TJ became part a public-private partnership between DPS, Boulder-based Namaste Solar, Denver-based Oak Leaf Energy Partners, and MP2 Capital. Working at the Convention Center and at DIA, Namaste Solar has sponsored many green projects in the Denver metro area. “Namaste leased DPS the equipment for 25 years and has been responsible for the installation,” said Lessard.
The partnership will affect an estimated 17 to 20 schools district-wide, and has helped obtain over three million dollars in grants from Excel Energy and 2.5 million dollars worth of federal funding, allowing certain Denver Public Schools to be partially powered by the sun. “The grants are to help support green energy,” said Lessard.
Installation of these panels took about three weeks to complete before they were activated for use by TJ on September 10. “During the peak production, the 440 panels will add 90 kilowatts to the grid. It will not be enough to completely cover our use, but it will be substantial,” said Lessard.
Although TJ will not see any direct financial benefits, DPS, paying nothing for the panels, will begin saving money on energy costs as soon as the panels become active. MP2 Capital’s CEO Mark Lerdal predicts that DPS will save 1.1 million dollars over the course of the program. “Denver Public Schools had savings on day one,” said Lerdal in a 9 News interview. “They don’t pay anything. They paid less for their electricity the second that we turned the project on. For Denver Public Schools, it’s a win right away.”
Lessard feels that TJ will benefit from the panels, not financially, but in its conscience and in the classroom. “TJ will benefit by the feeling of good will that comes from making less of a carbon footprint. Not only are we diminishing our dependence on fossil fuels, we are adding a learning opportunity for our students,” said Lessard.
Students will be learning in the classroom about the solar farm on TJ’s roof in the brand-new Green Club, sponsored by Brett Butera and Scott Thomas. The new club, inspired in part by the panels, is focused on informing the students involved in the club how the solar panels work by collaborating closely with Namaste Solar. “The Green Club is also geared toward educating TJ’s student population as a whole as well as TJ’s community about how to live responsibly and sustainably with the environment,” says Thomas.
The club hopes to open the eyes of the TJ community through several projects, including maintaining a website and through meeting once per month. If any student would like to join, contact Butera or Thomas via email or just stop by one of the meetings. Thomas says that anyone is welcome to drop by the meetings, held in Butera’s room number 119, and see what they’re about.
