A project that will produce energy savings for the South Huntington School district, reduce the schools’ carbon footprint, and help the environment is underway at six of the district’s schools. Solar carports are being constructed in the parking lots at Walt Whitman High School, Stimson Middle School, Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center, Birchwood Intermediate School, Countrywood Primary Center, and Oakwood Primary Center.
This project does not include Maplewood Intermediate School or the James Kaden Administrative Offices because the abundance of trees and shaded areas at those properties does not provide enough sun exposure. The solar carports provide shaded parking while the canopy of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels overhead convert sunlight into electrical energy. That generated electricity is metered and then “taken off” the kilowatt-hours that the individual schools consume.
The New York State Department of Education is calling on school districts to continually look for and implement programs and procedures that will save energy and provide cost savings. After an energy audit that assessed the South Huntington School District’s energy consumption and identified areas where energy was being wasted or used inefficiently, planning and design for this project began in 2020. It includes the installation of the solar carports, new boilers, energy efficient LED lighting, and building envelope upgrades districtwide to save the district money on its electric bills as well as gas bills. “We're excited to be able to utilize renewable energy and see a cost savings to the district. Plus new boilers, new LED lighting, the district will benefit tremendously from upgraded energy performance,” said South Huntington Superintendent Dr. Vito D’Elia.
Johnson Controls, the energy services company that has developed and is overseeing this project, says the District will realize over 47% of energy savings from the baseline measurement period, and will save more than $707,000 per year, over the length of this Energy Performance Contract (EPC). The savings are guaranteed by Johnson Controls which will continually measure and verify the performance of the installations at agreed-upon checkpoints built into the contract.
The first solar carport construction started at Stimson Middle School because the new side parking lot was being installed. Work is progressing in the parking lot by the North Gym at Walt Whitman High School. Carport construction has begun, or is about to begin, at the other school buildings and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. While construction will still be going on in some locations when school starts, Dr. D’Elia says the work will be done during non-instructional hours. “The district was also very cognizant of how these solar arrays would look aesthetically,” emphasized D’Elia. “We had a choice of going to the front of Birchwood, the front of Oakwood, but we didn’t. We decided we could get just as much light from the side parking lots.”
The solar carports won’t only provide savings opportunities for the district, but will also provide learning opportunities for South Huntington students. The district is looking for ways to tie the solar structures, how they work, and what they do for the environment, into South Huntington curriculum. Johnson Controls has worked with other school districts where it has installed solar carports to speak with STEM class students and/or clubs to demonstrate how the solar arrays operate.
Sunrise Power Solutions (SPS) is one of the local solar installers that Johnson Controls partners with. SPS is supporting installation of solar at the South Huntington School District. To learn more about South Huntington’s solar installation project, you can visit their website at SunrisePowerSolutions.
Construction of the new solar carports underway at Walt Whitman High School.
(above) Solar carport at Stimson Middle School.
Countrywood Primary Center seen above, as well as Oakwood Primary Center and Birchwood Intermediate School, will have the addition of solar carports in their parking lots.