Solar array installed and running on sunlight at H-L

The solar array project begun in 2019 at Hopewell-Loudon School is completed and operating, with a heap of help from Mother Nature. Superintendent Jeff Holbrook said, after a fairly smooth 18-month process, the installation is running on sunlight and already saving the district money."After a final inspection last week, we found we were running at 100% solar energy at the time," Holbrook said. "Of course when the kids are in and we're operating the cafeteria it'll make a big difference, but we did have our maintenance team in and many of the lights were on when we checked."The public can view the operating stats of the solar array by visiting Hopewell-Loudon's website and clicking on the solar array "kiosk" link on the home page. From there, one can view current energy production numbers, graphs over various periods of time and conversion charts showing how many trees and how many gallons of gas are being saved by using the solar array's power, among other conversions."The kiosk shows monthly, daily, hourly and minute-by-minute data," Holbrook said. "We want to make sure everybody can see that information."Hopewell-Loudon's school was built as a green that meets the state's standards for being environment-friendly. The orientation of the building is ideal for gathering solar power, Holbrook said, and the school's white roof allows for extra energy collection – this is because the panels can collect sunlight not only from above but also from reflections of light bouncing off the roof which are then collected at on bottom of the solar panels."We're the first school TMI knows about in the state to have these bi-facial solar panels," Holbrook said.There also is a weather station on top of the school, tuned to check the sun's radiance at all times (which quantifies how much solar energy the array is pulling), monitor wind and give an idea of clouds and storms in the area, which affect solar energy production."So people can actually find basic weather information on our website now, too, since it shows up on the kiosk," Holbrook said.Holbrook said they learned the solar panels work effectively when there are days with a great deal of sun but somewhat milder temperatures, in the 70-80 degree range, because when it gets hotter the panels don't work as effectively. For this reason, Ohio is considered a pretty good state for solar energy, given the state's climate averages, he said."Another thing we learned was that 'solar noon,' as it's called, is actually at 12:59 p.m. each day, which is the time when the most radiance will be collected by the solar panels for that day," he said."If people want to know how much we're collecting on that day, they should check the website at that time, and the number will go down from there as the day goes on."The Hopewell-Loudon Board of Education approved the deal with TMI Energy Solutions that allowed for the array to be built in December 2019, though the process of finding a proper energy company to deal with began some time before that."When I came into H-L, I was looking at low-hanging fruit in terms of ways to save money," Holbrook said."We looked for projects with a good return-on-investment, and we started with new energy-efficient light bulbs first and we looked to improve the HVAC system."And then we started talking about solar energy."Before meeting with and vetting energy companies for a while, Holbrook and Maintenance Director Doug Depinet began educating themselves on solar energy, so they could go into meetings with the knowledge needed to hash out a deal."There's a lot of minutiae to go through," he said. "But we wanted companies to know when we came to the table it was clear we knew what we were talking about."Holbrook said TMI promised savings on day one, and they even offered to let Holbrook and Depinet visit an existing solar array they'd built at another school."That's kind of an unusual thing, but Doug and I took them up on it," Holbrook said."We visited a school in Shelby County, and the craftsmanship on that project, which had been completed back in 2003, was amazing. Their superintendent was still glowing about TMI, and all the other districts we called had the same praise for them."TMI agreed to install the system at no cost to the district. In return, H-L agreed to purchase energy through TMI for 25 years, and TMI will continue to own, maintain and insure the array during this time period."If anything happens, TMI will see it in their office and will handle any repairs free of charge," Holbrook said. "Since we're buying electricity from them, it's in their best interest to keep the system operating at full capacity."TMI also receives energy savings tax credits from operating the array.At last Wednesday's board meeting, board member Rick Osterwalder said he visited the rooftop array and was happy to see the results."The size is impressive, and the work that was done was considered exceptional by people I talked to who know about that sort of thing," he said."Apparently the panels can withstand 120 mile per hour winds, and they're lined up in rows neat as a pin."The day I was up there the energy meter was at zero, meaning we were paying nothing at all for electricity at the moment."Of course, the energy needed to operate the school will spike as students return to the school in some form when the fall semester starts, but there's no question the administration and board at Hopewell-Loudon School are happy with the array."We're excited to have people from the district check out the website and see the savings," Holbrook said. "These are things any taxpayer should love to see."