BARKER – The Barker School District’s on-site solar array continues to generate positive returns in meeting the schools’ electricity needs. For about a year, eight rows of solar panels on four acres on the west side of campus, across Haight Road, have been powering the district’s buildings.
According to Superintendent Jake Reimer, the district has already achieved $48,000 in savings and expects to save about $60,000 year-over-year. “Things continue to go very, very well for us,” he said.
During the summer months, especially May to June, the system generated about as much electricity as the district used during that period. Reimer noted that production is exceeding projections and believes this will result in further savings on the district’s electric bills.
During this period, the system produced between 98,000 and 111,000 kilowatt hours. The district used an average of 108,000 kWh per month. “We have a meter that shows exactly how much energy we have fed into the grid. All electricity is fed into the grid and not stored on site in batteries. “We receive a credit for all the electricity we generate, which is applied to what we use to reduce our overall electricity costs,” Reimer explained.
This month, the district expects energy production from the grid to provide approximately 65% of total energy consumption. “We didn’t think we could produce all the energy we used in an average month,” Reimer said.
The system, installed on school grounds in 2022 by Buffalo-based Solar Liberty, was not connected to the grid until October 2023 due to some “hiccups” that were “entirely due to National Grid’s processes.”
Full article: Barker Central School District solar array continues to deliver savings | Local News | lockportjournal.com
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