Bowling Green Solar Schools Team Up for Joint Solar Power Project

 Kenwood Elementary School, one of six elementary schools in the Bowling Green School District, is home to Bowling Green?s first city/school district solar power project.  School administrators believe this project will further enhance the district?s schools? math and science curriculum, and city officials hope this is the first of many such projects to occur in the future. 

Passersby of Kenwood Elementary School, located at 710 Kenwood Avenue, will find solar energy panels on the southwest corner of the building near the primary students? playground.  The solar collector array has begun using sunlight to generate small amounts of electric power.  The power thus produced is entered into the city power grid and distributed along with all other power during periods when the demand for electricity in the Kenwood building falls below what is being produced by the collectors.

The project was made possible by the Foundation for Environmental Education and a grant from the Ohio Department of Development Office of Energy Efficiency and with revenue from the City?s Bowling  GREEN Power" program.  Additionally, the Ohio Energy Project  (OEP) is providing in-kind contributions in the form of teacher training as a part of the Energy Smart School Program.  Bowling Green Utilities Director, Daryl Stockburger contacted the state program officials to secure the grant and to discuss the possibilities of their green power program.  Currently, 3.4 percent of the City?s electric customers pay a premium under the ?Green Energy Rider? to get their power from low impact ?run-of-the-river? hydro.  Through an agreement with American Municipal Power-Ohio, electricity generated from landfill gas will be added to the list of green resources in November of 2001. The City of Bowling Green has pledged to use these additional revenues for the installation of new solar or wind projects on the Bowling Green electric system.   The project at Kenwood School is the first solar PV system to be connected to the Bowling Green electric distribution grid under this program. 

School officials directed the choice of the Kenwood site while considering the ease of open exposure to direct sunlight on a long-term basis.  ?The solar panels at Kenwood will provide our students & staff as well as their counterparts in other buildings of the district with a unique educational tool?, said Gary Keller, Principal at Kenwood Elementary School.  ?When combined with other projects directed at increasing awareness of renewable energy resources and protection & preservation of our environ

- November 17, 2000 Bowling Green Electric Division News Release

The school's grid-tied system has 16 Astropower photovoltaic modules for a total of 1.04 kW. 
installed by John Witte of Integrated Solar, LLC of Maumee, Ohio and the Bowling Green
Electric Division.  Engineering assistance was provided by American Municipal Power-Ohio,Inc. (AMP-OHIO)

The Kenwood Elementary School's retail power bill is reduced by the PV output using net metering.  The solar unit was funded with $9,667.00 of funds contributed by customers participating in the "Bowling  GREEN Power" program.  The City received a reimbursement grant of $3,000 from the the Ohio Department of Development, Office of Energy Efficiency.