Roslyn school board members and administration officials considered on Thursday the installation of solar panels on school roofs.
“I don’t think we can do this soon enough,” said Adam Haber, a school board member. “We’re trying to teach our students we are environmental stewards and we will have panels on the roof.”
The installation, upkeep and removal of the panels would be free as part of the K-Solar program offered to school districts by the New York Power Authority, a state utility.
The program grants districts the use of panels for 18 years, during which the sole cost to the schools involves payment for electricity generated by the panels, said Evan Kosnos, the manager of K-Solar at the state utility.
Haber estimated the solar panels would cut the district’s electricity costs by as much as 30 percent.
“We’re saving real money here,” Haber said.
Over 300 school districts throughout the state have shown interest in the program and 40 districts have signed onto K-Solar partnerships.
One district in Long Island, Kings Park, is among those that have signed partnerships, Kosnos said.
None of the 40 districts has installed the solar panels but most of those projects will be completed by the end of the year, he added.
School board members expressed wariness about being among the first districts to go forward with the program.
“It’s scary when leading the way on this,” Steven Litvack, a board member, said. “If it doesn’t go right, it could ruin your roof.”
“We’re the guinea pigs,” school board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy said.
“There’s always reason to have concerns and want to do due diligence,” Kosnos said. But “this is not something that’s relatively new. The program is new but solar on schools is not new.”
Board members suggested trying solar panels on a single school before involving the entire district, which Kosnos said is permitted under the program.
Eric Kaeyer, a design principal and vice president with KG&D Architects, advised school board members to assess the potential need for roof repairs before the installation.
“All the roofs are eight to 10 years old,” he said. “They last 20 years. If the life of the solar program is 18 years, you’ll have to remove the panels when you redo the roofs. That cost will be borne by the district,” he said.
Kosnos said he has spoken about the program with Roslyn School Superintendent Allison Brown as well as Haber.
If the school district chooses to move forward, the next step will call for a K-Solar case developer to assess the feasibility of solar power generation on the district roofs, Kosnos said.
Haber concluded his statement about the solar panels on Thursday with a plea.
“I can’t advocate any more for what I’m saying right now without begging you,” he told board members.
