(Solar) Powering Our Public Schools

Lanikai Elementary First Public School With Potential To Be Completely Energy Independent

Unlike other public schools, Lanikai Elementary is a Charter School. This means that is has to pay it’s own costs – including electricity. We worked to set aside $500,000 in the state budget to purchase a solar photo-voltaic rooftop array for the school. The goal is to make the school net-zero, that is, it will produce as much energy as it consumes over a year, and will save big as conventional energy prices continue to rise in the future. Every dollar the school doesn’t have to spend on electricity, it can spend in the classroom teaching our students. “The system is already showing promise to supply from 80-100% of the schools total energy usage. Our savings per month will be approximately $5000, or $166 per day,” said School Director Ed Noh.

A Statewide Commitment To Make All Our Schools Renewable

Chris explains the importance of transitioning to renewable energy.

The State of Hawaii has recently built upon the model established at schools like Lanikai Elementary by entering into a an agreement with local utilities and Hawaii Pacific Solar, who will install solar panels at 15 Kauai public schools at no cost to the state. The department will buy electricity generated by the panels at a rate of about 16.9 cents per kilowatt hour. The rate will rise to 28 cents an hour over the course of the 20-year contract. The new 2.4 megawatt system will generate 4 million kilowatt hours of electrical power per year equal to 60 percent of the 6.6 million kilowatt hours used by Kauai DOE schools annually. The DOE will reduce its dependency on oil imports by more than 6,414 barrels and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 6,081,390 pounds annually.

“By lowering operating costs such as energy, we can focus state resources on student achievement and effective teaching,” explained Governor Abercrombie at the announcement. Kauai is the first island whose schools will begin to go off the grid. Public schools on all islands will follow once the schools on Kauai are complete, potentially saving the State hundreds of millions of dollars into the future.