The Hollister School District first ventured into solar power two years ago.
Its first set of solar panels cost $200,000, but Hollister Schools received a $50,000 rebate from Liberty Utilities.
Kim Connell is the Communications Director for Hollister Schools, and she said the investment is saving the district thousands of dollars.
“We’ve seen a savings of around $36,000 over the last two years from that set of solar panels,” said Connell. “This summer, we flipped the switch on our second set of solar panels on the other side of the elementary building. Those were about $400,000, but again we got a $50,000 rebate from Liberty Utilities, so it’s about $350,000 out of pocket for us. We anticipate that we’ll see another $1,500 a month savings from those, saving us another $18,000 a year on top of the savings that we’re already having from the existing solar panels.”
Connell said these solar panels are a lot more than just a monetary investment. The school uses solar panels as a tool to help students learn about sustainability.
“Help out our local environment. Help out our local utility company to save energy,” Connell said. “It’s been really great lessons for our students. ALTech Energy who installed our solar panels, they provide educational curriculum for our students.”
(Story by Jacob Blount and Emilee Kuschel, Ozarks First)
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