May 6, 2008

Students jump-start solar migration

School district partners with Chevron to install panels

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

A student project to install eight solar panels on top of Hillsdale High School could prefigure the dawn of a new solar energy era in the San Mateo Union High School District.

Urged on by separate student groups at Aragon and San Mateo high schools, the district is embarking on a plan that could eventually put solar panels on the roofs of all six schools in the district. It's partnering with oil giant Chevron on the project, which it hopes will help offset the cost of the new air conditioning systems that are scheduled to be installed at three campuses this summer.

Under what's known as a Power Purchase Agreement, Chevron would help finance the up-front costs of installing the panels, and the district would pay it back out of the resulting energy savings. Chevron engineers have already visited the schools to study the layout and see how the project might pencil out, said Liz McManus, the district's chief business official.

"It's a way of doing the right thing on the environment" while also reducing energy costs, McManus said.

First, the plans would have to be approved by the Division of the State Architect, which oversees public school construction projects. The division's officials need to ensure that the schools' roofs are sturdy enough to support the panels, a process that could take several months, McManus said.

The earliest the panels could go up would likely be the end of next year.

Superintendent David Miller says he can hardly wait.

"In addition to saving money, it's about time we all started getting serious about this situation with our environment," he said. "It's something I take very seriously, so what little we can do here, we're going to do."

Miller credited the student groups at San Mateo and Aragon with spurring the district to action.

"They're pushing real hard, which is fine with me," he said. "We're glad to listen to their ideas."

Trustee Dave Pine has also been pushing solar energy as one of the ways the district could use Measure M construction bond funds to make its facilities greener and more efficient.

"We have an opportunity with these funds to make investments that really pay for themselves in the future," Pine said. He added that he met with the Aragon environmental club that has been advocating the solar power and was impressed with their knowledge and determination.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.