By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In December, USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton introduced the idea of using solar panels to offset some of the energy costs used in the Great Bend district. Monday evening, he updated the board of education on the potential benefits of using solar panels atop Great Bend High School and Lincoln and Jefferson Elementaries.
"You hear about solar energy," he said. "Well, what's that look like for the district? This is what it might look like for the district. These are the three they picked. They felt like these would be the three that probably showed the best benefit."
Hutton, with several locations in Kansas, provided the study with the goal of finding the "sweet spot" of offsetting some energy costs but not producing too much energy. With tax credits, a $100,000 installation on the roof of Great Bend High School would only cost the district $70,000. Over 25 years, Hutton said the district could see $275,000 in energy savings from that building alone.
"They figure at a 25-year financial benefit, but they also said those systems, once you hit 25 years, they don't just stop working," Thexton said. "They degrade over time and they don't generate as much power. The industry standard is a half-percent per year."
The payback period for each of the three studies would be 8-9 years. Jefferson Elementary could save an estimated $341,000 on a $128,000 system, and Lincoln Elementary could save an estimated $313,000 on a $120,000 array.
Because the panels would be used for individual buildings, the new large-scale solar operation rules recently approved by the Great Bend City Council would not apply. The board took no action on the matter Monday evening.