Sydney Cromwell
Solar Energy
Samuel Bates presents solar energy options, including a solar canopy at the Homewood Middle School parking lot, to the Homewood Board of Education on Feb. 19.
The Feb. 19 Homewood Board of Education meeting at Shades Cahaba Elementary started with a presentation by 2018 graduate Samuel Bates on ways the school system could save money with solar power.
Bates, now studying mechanical engineering at Mississippi State University, has worked with Assistant Superintendent Tim Maddox for about a year to study energy usage at Homewood’s schools. Maddox said he was impressed and intrigued by the depth of Bates’ research, including hour-by-hour energy consumption at each school over the course of an entire year.
Bates said his research shows Homewood High School and Middle School use about 13,300 megawatt hours of electricity each year, costing the school system about $1.5 million in bills.
He proposed installing a 1.4-megawatt grid of solar panels on the high school roof and a 1-megawatt system of panels on the roof and a parking lot “solar canopy” at the middle school. Bates noted that the solar canopies, which could be placed over rows of parking spaces or over the pickup and drop-off lines, would also provide shade and weather protection.
Bates also recommended installing battery backup systems, which would store excess energy produced during peak hours for later use and would also keep a reserve to be used in case of power outages.
These two solar arrays would produce about 5,500 megawatt hours of electricity each year, providing about 40 percent of the energy the high school and middle school consume. They would reduce the buildings’ pollution footprint by about 2,500 metric tons due to the reduced use of fossil fuels.
While he started his research due to concerns about climate change and the increasing level of impact humans have on the environment, Bates said he recognized that as a “divisive” issue and he believes the benefits of solar energy “stand on their own.”
Bates said his proposed solar arrays would cost about $3.6 million to install and would need some form of ongoing maintenance. If the school system did the installation itself, he projected $350,000-$400,000 in annual savings.
However, Bates said there are companies that will do the installation and take care of maintenance at their own expense and charge the school system an ongoing fee, essentially as a lease of the equipment. Bates estimated the school system would still save about $200,000 per year in energy costs by going this route.
Maddox and board members thanked Bates for his research and reinvestment in Homewood after leaving the school system. They took no action on his proposal.
The board also:
- Approved budget amendments to update federal fund amounts to more accurate totals, which have changed since the budget was approved in September. The amendments also include updating the capital projects fund to show that the school system is able to pay the estimated $6 million needed, above and beyond the money provided by the city’s bond issue, to complete the construction work at all schools if it were to finish this fiscal year. However, school officials said those projects are not expected to wrap up this year, and the final amount needed may change as work continues.
- Approved changes to construction contracts, adding $37,657 for soil removal and replacement at Homewood High and up to $300,000 for a trench excavation contingency fund.
- Approved the Patriot Band’s planned field trip to Orlando Nov. 23-27, 2019, for the Magic Music Days at Disney World.
- Approved a decrease of out-of-district tuition by $5, to $529 per month. The rate is calculated based on ad valorem tax revenue and it is used for students who move out of Homewood in the middle of a semester or during their senior year, so they can continue at Homewood schools until the end of that semester or graduation, if they choose.
- Acknowledged an agreement with Potter, Bryant & Moore PC for audit services.
- Approved the declaration of old technology equipment from Edgewood Elementary, Shades Cahaba Elementary, Homewood Middle and Homewood High as surplus.
- Introduced an update to policy for guidelines of securely handling confidential information and training employees in how to do so. The board will vote on the new policy at its next meeting.
- Heard a presentation from Shades Cahaba Principal John Lowry, reading specialist Ellen Helf and English Language instructor Alli Phelps about the school’s summer reading program for English Language and intervention students. They said the reading program, now in its third year and funded through the Homewood City Schools Foundation, has made reading more accessible by providing writing journals and personalized bags of books to prevent learning loss during the summer.