A school in Arkansas installed 1400 solar panels, which turned a $250k deficit into a $1.8 million surplus. They raised

[applegrove]

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A school in Arkansas installed 1400 solar panels, which turned a $250k deficit into a $1.8 million surplus. They raised teacher salaries!
https://www.batesvilleschools.com/solar?fbclid=IwAR1IJ64owcjLXKP7meMEgI5zsadFfvNeUnRw0_VPMtaTkSvCoNAfrtCu1_4

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Brilliant. What a learning lab for the students as well.

[LonePirate]

2. This is a rare piece of good news from Arkansas.

[Under The Radar]

33. This could put a target on the schools back

Governor Sarah Huckaby Sanders is working feverishly to beat down any and all progressive initiatives, so look for her to defund the school in some other way.

[kimbutgar]

3. Don't let Sarah Huckabee know she'll have the legislature outlaw this because xtians like her don't believe

In alternative energy unless it’s oil and gas ! And that would piss off her oil and gas donors!

[IjustDontlikeRepugs]

4. I live in this town.

For years I did a lot of computer work for Batesville Schools and I knew most of the teachers and administrators. They’ve always had a lot of talent in administration and education. I remember when these panels started paying off and the teachers started getting raises. I was as thrilled as they were.

[spanone]

5. K&R

[Martin68]

6. Keep doing things like this. Green energy is a win-win. Good for the budget, good for the environment and

good for the future our children.

[sheshe2]

7. Recommend!

[PatSeg]

8. What a great story, thanks!

[applegrove]

10. Most welcome.

[Eko]

9. Cant believe they just didnt build a nuclear reactor in the school.

Those solar panels are dangerous.They must not care about the thousands of people dying all the time of pollution and are obviously anti-nukes. Idiots.

[mopinko]

11. we DO NOT talk enough about the economics of renewables.

i put it out there often here. i’m 70, and want to stay in my house. besides ss, i have a rental 2flat.
both have max arrays. i pay about $20/mo on my home, but i have gas heat, and dont use all that i produce. working on that. sadly, the market is rigged and i only get a credit for that. after a yr, it goes poof. wd b nice to fix that, jb pritzker.

my 2flat has a heat pump, and a 3 yr newer array that is almost twice as productive. i still get stuck w good sized bills some mos. made the mistake of not getting ground source. looking into fixing that.
but in chgo the diff btn tenant heated, and landlord heat AND air is worth about $5-800/mo. i sunk a lot of savings into it, but i was not getting anything like $1200/mo returns on the $50k i spent.
i’d like to add a little small wind, which shd cover all the elec the 2flat needs.

switching over to elec wasnt cheap, but air in these old bldgs is rare. the rents i get r close to top of market. incentives to landlords, esp small 1s like me benefits us and our tenants by keeping rent affordable. and for so many ppl, the 2nd unit in a 2, or some other investment property is the core of their retirement. at least in chgo it is.

so much winning. we can haz more?

[diva77]

12. K&R +1,000,000 This should be used as THE poster-child in favor of solar power.

The regs for solar power are so screwed up in CA -- naturally not in favor of compensating residences for excess power produced.

[hunter]

21. I live in California.

All our local schools have solar power. So do about a third of my neighbors.

On some days California produces so much solar electricity we don't know what to do with it. There's still no practical technology to stash that energy away for use on the could cloudy days of winter when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing.

So far as the laws go, I think people realized lower income people were paying for wealthy people's solar rooftops.

"Net Zero" is an accounting trick that benefits the people who own roofs to put solar panels on (and the annoying solar sales people too...), but it doesn't really benefit the people who struggle to pay their electric bills and only increases the overall capital costs of maintaining a safe and reliable electric grid.

[CrispyQ]

27. Many years ago some comedian said, "As soon as they figure out how to put a meter on the sun

we'll have solar everything by midnight."

[hunter]

28. That's pretty much what happened. And they sold it as "free electricity."

All forms of energy are free if you don't include the cost of collecting and distributing them.

Fossil fuels come out of holes in the ground, so do uranium and thorium. Sunlight comes out of the sky. All are fantastically abundant. But none of them are free.

[Warpy]

13. How soon will that sour faced twit in the governor's mansion make them take the panels down?

Can't go around raising teacher salaries when you're trying to destroy the school system.

[hunter]

14. Schools and solar panels are a good mix.

The children are in school when the solar panels are generating power.

All the schools where I live have large solar arrays, generally over parking lots and play areas where the shade can be desirable.

It's nice to return to a car that's not a furnace on a hot sunny day.

[betsuni]

15. K&R

[Uncle Joe]

16. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread applegrove

[applegrove]

20. De rien Oncle Joe.

[Uncle Joe]

22. ...

[young_at_heart]

17. I recently learned from DNA testing.....100% Arkansas

I was born and raised in California so this was a big shock......and I felt embarrassed! Now I feel proud!!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

18. I got solar panels installed on my small home in Santa Fe

several years ago.
Right now I'm paying $1.25/month for electricity, which I think is the absolute minimum my electric service can charge me to have the solar panels on my roof.

Hooray for solar!
]

[Woodwizard]

34. Got mine in 2014

They paid for themselves in 7 years that was a 9kw system, I added another 4kw when I installed heat pumps just about covers our yearly usage including cooling and heating.

Unfortunately there are a few companies that are giving solar a bad name selling loans on installs and being slow to nonexistent when warranty issues occur.

[Scalded Nun]

19. I'm surprised the state has not sued them yet, or at least arrested the principal.

[live love laugh]

23. How long before Republicans ban solar?

[applegrove]

24. Or start charging people for the sunlight that falls on their

property. The rightwing nuts have done that with rainwater in South America somewhere. Or tried to.

[willamette]

25. I remember that.

Bechtel Company, I think.

[Ontheboundry]

26. Maybe some of those Repug states but

Others have fully embraced it. Tennessee, Alabama for sure are all in making new solar farms wether or not for the right reasons I'm unsure

[ProfessorGAC]

29. Schools Seem An Ideal Place

Most schools have flat roofs & tend to be low in tree density so the roof gets lots of sunlight.
This was a great idea.

[Wounded Bear]

30. Nice to hear they actually directed some of the savings back to the teachers...

they're the ones who really matter.

[Hekate]

31. What a bright idea! 💡💡💡

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

32. It's nice to read good news on here nt

[erronis]

35. Withoug the facebook tracking in your link

https://www.batesvilleschools.com/solar

Easy enough to remove everything past the "?".