More Solar Panels Considered for District

In continued efforts to reduce costs throughout the , board of education member Arvind Mathur announced the district is looking into additional buildings to support the installation of solar panels.

Currently, solar panels are already scheduled to be installed on , and the .

But, Mathur said, the district is looking to install them on the .

“We are looking at the 1,000 building of the high school, the gym and ,” he said at the Feb. 8 board of education meeting. “And we are looking at other buildings in the district.”

Mathur said the district is looking at the possibility of solar panels in the parking lots of some of the schools as well through car ports.

"That would all be part of the county package," said Superintendent of Schools Michael Schilder.

All of the work for the solar panels is being done through a county program, meaning the work is done at no cost to the district itself.

The project is being handled by the Somerset County Improvement Authority, which has asked school districts and municipalities to submit project proposals for placing solar panels on buildings or to move forward with other renewable energy programs.

The district has already received approval for three schools, and is looking to apply for additional ones.

Schilder said that all solar panels would be installed through the country program that pays for the construction of them.

“We have a 15-year commitment with the panels through the county project,” said business administrator Peter Starrs.

From there, Starrs said, the district can opt to continue with the county program or move forward in taking over the panels on its own.

And for the district, Mathur said, the panels reduce the electrical costs, as costs are currently paid through the amount of kilowatts the lights supply. Currently, he said, the district pays 14 cents per kilowatt, but the panels could reduce that to 5 cents.