St. Peter schools to install solar panels thanks to grant

ST. PETER, Minn. (KEYC) - The roofs of St. Peter High School and Middle School will soon be adorned with solar panels, courtesy of a grant awarded to the district by the state. Annually, the solar panels will save the district between $4000-$5000.

The St. Peter School District was awarded a total of $204,000 by the state to install two separate solar arrays, providing nearly 100 kilowatts to each of the schools. Bill Gronseth, the St. Peter Superintendent believes they will become an essential educational tool.

“They’ll also provide for learning opportunities for our students because they will learn about the systems but they’ll also be able to take readings on the energy that is captured and calculate how much of that is the percentage of use,” said Gronseth.

“It’s an easy educational thing than to start saying well how much for electricity is being covered by these by these solar panels,” said Jeff Jeremiason, professor of Environmental Studies.

The district isn’t alone in installing solar panels.

“We are seeing more solar panels if you just drive down the highway you see large arrays and this will be an opportunity for students to learn about how that helps our whole community by collecting that,” said Gronseth.

Still, he feels using the panels as an educational tool will help answer big questions.

Jeremiason adds, “it is kind of a great mystery where you’re energy comes from when you flip that light switch on or turn your air conditioning on or run any appliance in your house. Here’s something that they can control and something that they can latch on to to make their futures better.”

The solar panels will be installed once enough snow melts.

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