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Kaneland school board approves solar energy project

At the Sept. 30 meeting, the Kaneland Unit District 302 board approved the installation of solar panels at four of the schools.

Harter Middle School, Kaneland John Shields and Kaneland John Stewart will have a roof-mounted system, and Kaneland High School will have a ground-mounted system.

The school district will not be paying any capital money upfront for this project, but by working with Trane, they will be able to take advantage of state incentives that are currently available.

Below are the estimates for each of proposed systems:

• Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove: system size, 460 kW; annual production, 564,928 kWh; and annual energy offset, 49%.

• John Shields Elementary School in Sugar Grove: system size, 296 kW; annual production, 382,970 kWh; and annual energy offset, 90%

• John Stewart Elementary School in Elburn: system size, 296 kW; annual production, 398,021 kWh; and annual energy offset, 86%.

• Kaneland High School in Maple Park: system size, 996 kW; annual production, 1,300,188 kWh; and annual energy offset, 51%.

The district will be working with Trane to install the solar panels, through a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement.

The highlights for the Power Purchase Agreement are below:

• 1,051 kW solar PV installed at no cost to Kaneland Unit District 302;

• The district agrees to buy power from the systems at reduced rate;

• Trane captures federal, state, and utility incentives;

• PPA rate: $0.048/kWh in first year + 1% annual escalation ($0.0693 existing rate);

• PPA term: 25 years (note: year 25 rate is lower than existing rate);

• Energy rate includes all program costs, including operation and maintenance costs;

• Estimated program total savings: $3.1 million over 25 years.

It will be approximately one year before members of the Kaneland community will begin to see the solar panels.

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