Proposed High School Solar Project Explored by Community

Members of the community and school board attended a Town Hall meeting Wednesday night hosted by the at .

The evening’s topic was the proposed installation of solar carports in the faculty parking lot of the high school, including the slopes between Easterly Road and the D Building.

Another meeting took place last week at Calabasas High School tackling a similar project.

Superintendent Donald Zimring opened the meeting by giving a brief background on how the proposed project came about two years ago and emphasized “environmental stewardship.”

The $4.2 million project comes at no cost to LVUSD and will be installed for free by Borrego Solar Systems, under a 20-year lease agreement.

“We teach about going green all the time so this will be a good example to our children – this project that will make use of solar energy,” said Zimring.

Aside from the “going green” initiative, Zimring also stressed other pros of the project, including savings, zero financial risk, low-maintenance appeal, lighted covered parking and the curriculum component.

“A live learning lab, internships and hands-on learning will be some of the things that will be available to our students once this project gets underway,” said Zimring.

Easterly Road resident Gunther Pauly expressed some skepticism about the project. “Of course, I’m concerned about aesthetics – how it’s going to look plus they’re going to be cutting down some trees in the process,” sad Pauly.

City Council member Illece Buckley-Weber was concerned about the lighting and asked, “Does it need to be on all the time?”

The lights will be a bonus, according to Zimring, and will only be left on during school events.

Other disadvantages mentioned were the length of the agreement with Borrego, the rapid change in technology and the potential small savings.  Under the purchase agreement, LVUSD would be paying Borrego a fixed rate of 19 cents per kilowatt for the duration of the agreement.

“We start saving when Edison increases their rates because our rates are locked in,” said Karen Kimmel, LVUSD chief business official.

The target installation date of the 10 to 14-foot solar panels is this summer, said Zimring. Once installed, the panels are expected to generate 25 percent of the electrical power that the school needs.

Over the next 30 years, the solar panel installation will be equivalent to removing 146 passenger vehicles from the roads and planting 324 acres of trees.

The proposed project is expected to go before the school board shortly. “We expect to be voting on this issue within the next couple of board meetings,” said school board member Lesli Stein.