Montco School District Looks to Save With Solar Power

As school districts search for ways to save money, the Colonial School District in Montgomery County, Pa. is going solar at two of its schools as a way to cut electricity costs.

KYW's Brad Segall reports thanks to a $700,000 state grant, rooftop solar systems will be installed at Colonial Middle School and Colonial Elementary School.  The solar panels are expected to generate 880,000 kilowatt hours of energy annually, saving the district about $100,000 every year.

District operations director Terry Yemm says they also plan to incorporate the project into their science curriculum:

"The difficulty is trying to figure out a way to get the students up onto the school on the rooftop to actually see them, however, if we can't do that we certainly will be able to take photos and videos of the process as it's going forward."

The district was able to lock-in a price with a third party for 20 years for the electricity generated by the solar panels.  Yemm calls that a benefit given recent volatility in the energy markets.

The panels are expected to be installed in August or September.