Parkway to Install Rooftop Solar Panels

Parkway’s Board of Education recently approved a long-term lease agreement and contract for installation of a 25kW solar array on each of the 33 district buildings. The 825-kilowatt district-wide system is the largest rooftop solar project in the state.

With no upfront installation cost, the 33 leased systems are estimated to save the district as much as $14,194 in the first year, and savings could reach more than $1.4 million over the life of the contract. Parkway’s solar energy system will offset 2.2 percent of the district’s total annual electric use. In conjunction with Missouri’s voter-approved Renewable Energy Standard, Ameren Missouri, the district's electric utility is providing a portion of the incentives necessary to make this program possible.

Over the life of the 20-year lease, the system will prevent the release of 15,048 metric tons of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. This is the environmental equivalent of not burning over 1.6 million gallons of gasoline or planting nearly 385,000 trees.

In addition, each individual building’s solar system is equipped with an online monitoring program that will be accessible via the school Intranet system. Students and teachers will be able to view real-time data on their solar system’s energy production – a potentially powerful teaching tool.

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