A giant step for town energy use Small step in energy savings for school

CORNWALL — A year after a solar voltaic system was installed at Cornwall Consolidated School, it has proven to be everything it promised to be: virtually maintenance free and able to supply about 5 percent of the school’s electricity needs.

Of course that’s all an average. Day-to-day, the amount of power produced by the three-panel arrays set up at the east end of the school depends on how much the sun shines. The percentage of power used depends on the daily needs of the school.

“We actually started tracking in April when the website went up,� Principal Robert Vaughan said. “For those nine months we had mostly warmer months and no snow. We are at 6.4 percent of usage as of Nov. 30. It will drop over the winter months, and when our use is highest so 5 percent will probably be the number we’ll end up looking at.�

The system was a reward for Cornwall residents meeting and then exceeding the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund’s 20 Percent by 2010 initiative. In the four years since the town took on the challenge, 34 percent of its residences and businesses have begun buying some or all of their electricity from renewable sources, despite paying a bit more each month.

In the year since the school’s system went into service, it has generated more than 11,000 kilowatt hours. The tracking puts it into perspective, using comparisons that the average person can better understand. As of last week, the power produced from that 9 kilowatt system was enough to power 308 homes for a day, 86 computers for a year and 77,000 television hours.

The system is the same type installed last month at Town Hall using a federal grant (see related story, this page). Power is not stored, but rather used or sent onto the grid for a credit. While the town expects to meet, and possibly exceed its needs at the town offices, the school’s larger system will only take a bite out of its usage.

But the point here is not so much the estimated $2,000 in annual savings in the school budget, or that the cost of either system will be probably never be recouped.

However, like all those people investing in clean energy by paying a few more dollars each month, this is seen as taking another step toward energy independence. Meanwhile, legislators and government agencies are taking their own steps to combat a bottom-line-only attitude, devising easier ways to seek grant money.