Solar panels could power high school for decades
STRATFORD — Town officials plan to outfit Stratford High School with solar panels, a move that could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy costs in the coming years.
The Stratford Town Council on Monday voted unanimously to award a contract worth more than $760,000 to CTEC Solar, a Bloomfield-based company, to build the solar array on top of the school.
The panels, which will be installed across the roofs of both of the school’s two buildings, are expected to help power the recently-renovated school for the next two decades, according to town documents.
“It’s a really exciting opportunity that saves the town money through reduced electric bills and deploys clean energy into town,” Robert Klee, a former commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection who consults with the town on sustainability initiatives, told the Stratford Board of Education last year.
The council selected CTEC’s 220 kilowatt system over similar but slightly more expensive proposals from Consolidated Edison Solutions, Horton Electrical Services and WC McBride Electrical Contractors.
Officials have not shared how much money the panels are expected to save the town. However, a smaller 104 kilowatt solar array built by CTEC on the roof of a West Hartford high school is anticipated to bring in $500,000 over 25 years, according to the company.
The project is in part funded by a nearly $950,000 state grant for school construction. The panels will be installed over the school’s recently built roofs, which were updated as part of a much larger $126 million renovation and expansion of the nearly 100-year-old school.
In addition to powering the school, the solar panel system will also have an educational component. The new equipment will be connected to a pair of digital kiosks that will provide “real-time energy production values” for students and teachers to analyze.
The town documents indicate the installation should be completed by the end of April. But it is unclear if CTEC will stick to that timeline. Stratford officials did not immediately return requests for comment about the project.
The high school will be the sixth school in town to be outfitted with solar panels. Officials previously awarded a $2.5 million contract to Con Edison to install arrays on Chapel Street and Second Hill Lane elementary schools, Wooster Middle School, Bunnell High School and Stratford Academy: Johnson House. A similar project is planned for the Birdseye Municipal Complex.