BARKER — A solar array on the grounds of the Barker school district is now fully up and running.
Eight rows of solar panels placed on four acres on the west side of the campus, facing Haight Road, have been supplying energy to the district’s buildings for more than five months and have already produced some positive early returns for the district.
According to superintendent Jake Reimer, the array has so far produced 131,570 kilowatt hours. The district has consumed slightly more than 386,000 kwh during that same span.
Reimer noted production is exceeding projections and he believes that will translate to more savings on the district’s electricity bills.
“During the worst solar energy production months of the year, during our winter, we have produced roughly one-third of the electric we used,” he said.
Reimer said the array, which was installed by Buffalo-based Solar Liberty on the school property in 2022, were not connected to the grid until October 2023 due to some “hiccups” that were “completely due to National Grid’s processes.”
To date the production value of the energy made by the array is $11,419, which is about 10% of the district’s normal cost for 12 months of energy used in past fiscal years.
The district expects energy production to increase substantially in the coming months.
“Without knowing how much we will actually produce yet during the summer, it’s hard to say exactly how much we will earn for the full initial 12 month period, but I think it’s safe to estimate we will likely see savings of well more than $50,000 this year,” Reimer said. “I think it will be higher.”