Solar panels to be installed on Port High this week

A 750 solar panel system is scheduled to be installed on top of Port Washington High School this week, making the Port Washington-Saukville School District one of just a handful of Wisconsin school systems to participate in the We Energies Solar Now pilot program. 

In exchange for space on the roof over the newest part of the high school — the cafeteria, commons, gym, music rooms and offices — We Energies will pay the district an estimated $8,717 annually, which over the 20-year life of the contract will net the district about $174,340.

“This is not exactly a windfall, but we’re always looking for new revenue streams,” Director of Business Services Jim Froemming told the school board last year. 

Unlike traditional solar power programs in which participants pay the significant cost of installing and maintaining panels on their buildings and receive energy credits in return, Solar Now, also known as the Rent-a-Roof program, covers the cost of the equipment, installation and maintenance of solar systems. The owners of the building or land on which the solar panels are mounted receive rental payments but no credits for the energy, which goes on the grid.

“You would basically be leasing us your rooftop,” Richard Stasik, director of state regulatory affairs for We Energies and a Port Washington resident, told members of the Buildings and Grounds Committee in September. 

“It’s a completely turnkey solution. The district doesn’t have to invest one penny in the installation of the facility.”

Installation work, which is being done by Pewaukee-based SunVest Solar, is scheduled to begin Thursday, Feb. 27, with the delivery of the panels. They are expected to be installed on the Port High roof Friday, a scheduled day off school. If work is not completed Friday, it would be wrapped up Saturday, Froemming said.

The panels, however, are not expected to begin contributing electricity to the power grid until the end of March. The system is expected to generate 200 kilowatts of power.

Before the school board approved the project last year, the only concern expressed by officials was whether the 750 panels could damage or decrease the life of the new high school roof. 

“We take significant efforts not to damage the roofs we lease,” Stasik said.

The solar panels, which weigh about 70 pounds each, would rest on a protective barrier placed on top of the roof and be held down by concrete blocks.

“They’re like landscaping blocks on steroids,” Stasik said. “It’s a ballasted system. No holes would be put in the roof, not a one.”

The system is designed to withstand tornado-force winds and be discrete, Stasik said. The panels are pitched only 5 to 10 degrees.

“You won’t see them from the ground,” Stasik said.

Froemming said there’s no reason to believe the solar panels will reduce the expected life of the roof, which is 20 to 25 years.

The system would also include two inverters, which can be monitored via the internet. School officials said they foresee educational opportunities with students being able to monitor how much electricity the high school system is generating. 

We Energies has completed Solar Now projects in the school districts of Random Lake, New Berlin, Northland Pines in Eagle River and at University Lake School in Hartland, as well as in Washington County. Those projects are now generating five megawatts of energy, enough to power more than 1,000 homes.