PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A new report released Wednesday said the Philadelphia School District would see substantial savings by putting solar panels on the roofs of school buildings.
The study by the nonprofit PennEnvironment found that installing solar panels on all 300 district buildings could generate enough energy to power more than 15,000 homes and save taxpayers nearly $20 million on energy bills.
“The main barrier to schools going solar is the upfront costs,” said Flora Cardoni, PennEnvironment’s deputy director.
Philadelphia schools superintendent Tony Watlington said it helped that the district received a $1.2 million grant under Pennsylvania’s Solar for Schools program. The district announced in May that it would use the funds to install panels at Andrew Hamilton School, Murrell Dobbins Career & Technical Education High School, Northeast Community Propel Academy, and W.B. Saul High School.
“It gives us an opportunity to lower our costs, and also to do our part as a large organization to reduce our environmental footprint,” Watlington said.
The report also found “going solar” in Pennsylvania schools could cut carbon dioxide emissions, the leading cause of global warming, by 1.4 million tons per year. For perspective, that is equal to the annual output of nearly 300,000 typical gasoline-powered cars.
State Representative Liz Fiedler sponsored the bill that provides solar grants to school districts. With federal clean energy tax credits being phased out, she said the Pennsylvania budget, which is still being debated, should include an expansion of Solar for Schools.
"Now more than ever, as we see what's happening at the federal level, I believe that it is really, really important for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to step up.”