Lemon Grove schools hit solar switch

District pulls power play with help from the sun

By Leonel Sanchez
San Diego Union-Tribune

September 25, 2005

LEMON GROVE – A sunny day brings more than just smiles to the students and teachers at Palm Middle School.

It powers their school.

Palm is one of three Lemon Grove schools that installed solar energy systems over the summer and are seeing the early returns on a $4 million investment.

"It's installed. It's ready. It's already generating power," Ken Fine, Lemon Grove School District's director of facilities and operations, said as he looked at the rows of bluish solar panels planted near the school's entrance.

The systems – also at Mount Vernon and San Miguel elementary schools – can produce up to 530 kilowatts combined, enough to provide up to 95 percent of each school's electrical needs or power more than 100 homes, Fine said.

They are also a curiosity for students, teachers and neighbors.

A total of 1,812 glass-covered solar panels – each weighing 105 pounds – were installed at the three sites. They sit in tidy rows on the ground and slant toward the sun.

A science teacher is developing a lesson plan about the systems, which collect energy from the sun and convert it into electricity.

The district has a history of looking for alternative energy sources. In recent years officials purchased electric cars and buses powered by compressed natural gas.

It was only a matter of time before the district started producing its own electricity, said Richard Tighe, assistant superintendent for business services.

"Why should we be getting oil to produce electricity when we can be using the sun in Southern California?" Tighe said.

The schools are more reliant on sunny weather now, but they have a backup when power runs short. They are connected to a grid managed by San Diego Gas & Electric.

When there is a surplus, most likely on weekends and school breaks, the extra power goes to the grid and the schools receive energy credits.

District officials aren't worried about producing too little electricity. Ideal weather conditions for the systems are 70 degrees and clear skies.

The district began exploring solar energy shortly after the energy crisis in 2001 that caused the wholesale price of electricity in California to skyrocket.

The district put the project together with Burlingame-based 3rd Rock Systems & Technologies, a developer of renewable energy projects, and the San Diego Regional Energy Office, which helped secure funding.

"We never could have afforded this without some kind of a grant," Tighe said.

The district expects to pay only half the cost of the systems thanks to a rebate expected from the San Diego Regional Energy Office. The money will come from the state's Self-Generation Incentive Program, funded by ratepayers.

To pay its half, the district obtained a low-interest $2 million loan that it will repay over 15 years. The district spent $168,472 last year for electricity for the three schools. Tighe said that is about equal to the annual loan payment.

It's a fixed cost that will protect the schools against rising electricity costs, he said.

"It's like a mortgage," Tighe said. "At the end of the payments we will own the solar systems."

Lemon Grove joins other districts in San Diego County and across the state that have turned to solar-generated electricity. About two dozen schools in the county use solar energy, including more than a dozen in the San Diego Unified School District and schools in Alpine and Fallbrook.

"Solar energy is really becoming a major player in the power supply marketplace and will continue to do so as the price of natural gas escalates," said Irene Stillings, executive director of the San Diego Regional Energy Office.

The Lemon Grove district hopes to add solar systems at its other five schools, though officials admit financing will be a challenge.

Palm, Mount Vernon and San Miguel were picked because they had ground-level space to install panels. Mounting them on roofs was too much of a logistical and financial challenge.

The panels have raised questions.

One neighbor, who lives near Palm Middle School, has been asking city and school officials whether the systems pose any health risks.

School officials and the company that installed the systems say no.

"It's not giving out anything that is harmful to people," said Tom Nellon, owner of Fresno-based Unlimited Energy.

"There's no radiation given off. It's completely safe," Nellon said.

The surplus electricity that goes back to the grid is used to supply other homes, Tighe said.

"It helps supply everybody," he said.