I saw this poster at the McDonalds/Mobil station in the Village of Dryden on Thursday:
Poster advertising Tompkins County's first solar-powered school
Following the web link in the poster took me to a description of how this works. Like other state-funded energy programs I've mentioned previously, this comes from NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The 2-kilowatt solar collector, which connects to the grid and the school's regular electrical system, cost about $24,000, of which $1500 came from the school district. It won't power the whole school - normally it would cover a quarter of the energy usage of a house - but it will contribute some power as well as educational opportunities for students. The Ithaca, Lansing, McGraw, and Spencer-VanEtten districts are also participating in the program.
The dedication will be on Friday, June 11th, from 7:30pm to 9:30pm at the Dryden High School.
Posted by simon at May 29, 2004 10:32 AM in energy , schools (Dryden)