Tips for convincing my school to put solar panels on the schools roof?

Question

I'm part of the Sustainability group at school, the school principal is a d**k and doesn't care about the environment, he only cares about money.
Me and the group will be talking in front of him and the school council (the people in-charge of the school's money) To convince them to put solar panels on the school roofs.
I know that it definitely will help the school save on electricity bills, but it WILL cost a lot of money to put them in.
In the end we just wanna reduce carbon emissions!
HELP :)

Answer 1

Unfortunately installing Photoelectric Solar panels on your school would probably cost more than the entire school budget. In order to make this sort of proposal you would need to have some hard numbers to show exact dollar amounts of costs and benefits. You would need multiple quotes from companies that install solar panels and information from the electrical company that would have to tie the system into their grid. This is a HUGE undertaking.

If you really want to reduce carbon emissions, suggest ways to reduce the energy use within the school instead of converting to solar. Better windows, doors, and roof insulation. If you have a leaky roof, fixing that would get rid of water damage and better insulate the school thus saving energy. Suggest plans to reduce electrical usage like having computers go into Hibernate mode after 10 minutes, turning off lights in rooms that aren't getting used, etc...

Many people are fooled into thinking that solar power is this awesome free energy source. IT is NOT. Solar panels are great for powering small items or for getting power when you have no other way of getting connected. However it takes MORE electricity to create a solar panel than the solar panel will ever produce in it's ENTIRE lifetime. Do some research into the production of silicon crystal and semiconductors and find out how solar panels are made. Until the technology improves greatly, solar is not a "green" power source other than generating money.

Answer 2

Before you start even trying to convince them you need to actually prove that you'll help the environment which means knowing where the power the school currently uses comes from and what the environmental effect of that power is along with the environmental effect of the solar panels. It might also help to have some idea of when the electricity in the school gets used (because if the highest usage is at night the solar panels may not be such a good idea though I don't see schools using much power at night).

It really does depend on what generates the power where you are but I suspect that you will reduce CO2 emissions.

If most of the power that supplies your school comes from nuclear, hydro or geothermal then the solar panels aren't going to be helping the environment (because those sources are better or equivalent to solar in terms of life cycle CO2) but most of it probably comes from coal or natural gas which do produce a lot more CO2 than the process to manufacture a solar cell (which is quite energy intensive) so if coal or gas (or even oil but that isn't used for power generation much) is the main power source where your school is then it be worth it. There may be wind and solar in the power grid where you are but they aren't dominant in any but a few small scale systems because they don't have the reliability needed, instead they get backed up with fossil fuels so if that is the case then it would probably still be worth putting solar panels on the roof.

For a school I wouldn't bother with a battery system, most of the power use will probably be during the day when there are classes (although you might want ask some teachers if they stay at school in the evening often) and you can still get power from the grid when the sun isn't shining.

As well as that if you go down the battery route you have to maintain the damn things and also have enough excess capacity to charge them up which is really something that is too complicated to be worth bothering with, especially on that scale.

Over enough time it'll probably save the school money but it'll take many years for that to actually happen and the school may need the money that would be spent on solar panels for other things right now (given how underfunded most schools are I'd say that's a pretty good bet myself).

To make extra money you might be able to sell unused power generated by the solar panels back to the grid (which could make a bit of money on weekends) although it has to be done right so that you don't feed power into the grid when there is a blackout (if you do you may electrocute a maintenance worker and I doubt your school council is going to want the school sued over that) although that is something that shouldn't be a problem if you do it properly. You'll need to see if it's possible where you are and how much the school could make on it.

Answer 3

When dealing with this type of a person you do not worry about proving how much good it will do. The fact that their grand kids will be able to see birds and bees in their lifte time don't even matter to them. Or even the fact if they are still alive from the changes in the enviroment causing floods or what ever.

You have to find out how much electric the school uses in kWh per year and what the cost of the utilites are for the same year. Prove that installing solar will bring down the long term cost and in the end will be free. That is the simple part. Remember you don't have to supply all the power the school uses just part of it. A $40,000 or $50,000 system will be a start no need to try to get a half million dollar system. If you get lucky go for it but don't bet on it.

Now you will need to start working on getting a grant from any where even a rich friend or business leader that needs a tax credit or tax break. A lot of places make too much money and would rather donate to a school for a green project to get a pat on back for their business in the news, then just loose it to the government.

I believe that schools are a business and would be able to get a full 30% tax credit on the cost of the installed system.

Read this page and use the links to find your state and Fed incentives. You can check the saving over 30 years on one of the links just by putting in the avg utility bill based on ten cents a kWh.

http://www.oynot.com/how-solar.html

Good luck but the best way to win is to find a way to get it done and then they can't say no.

Answer 4

Installing solar cells cost money. It would swamp the capital spending portion of the school budget. I doubt the school board would put it into the budget because of the cost involved. If they did I guarantee you that, when presented to the voters, they would turn down the budget.

If you really want to do something, I suggest a fund raiser, but you are probably looking at raising more than $500,000. Good luck.

Answer 5

Show live examples such as those in Northern CA where the schools working with private industry funded a complete solar installation for a school district. Yes it can be done!

Answer 6

I have lots of info that I think you will find quite helpful and enlightening and I wish you and your group the best of luck (I am sure that if this site was shown to other students and people that you would probably have more people on your side, and again best of luck to you and your group):

http://ecowellness.multiply.com/ for excellent inspirational info within my blog to help not only our world and its creatures, but to also open peoples hearts and minds to many amazing wonders that life has to offer. I also have lots of info in my blog to help fuel peoples imaginations to many possibilities that can be found only in the minds eye.

Along with lots of environmental info, amazing environmental pictures and videos (These videos show the beauty of this world and what life can be like if people take the time to appreciate life’s true beauty).

Let us all strive for a greener/brighter future by helping to create a solid foundation for future generations to build upon, so we can hand them a beautiful world, filled with never ending awe and wonders!!

Where peoples differences and uniqueness are accepted, where we all live as one, helping one another so that we can all play our own mysteriously beautiful melodies in the never ending, awe inspiring, song of life :-)

I truly have faith in humanity and believe that someday our lives and the world in which we live will truly be transformed for the better.

Answer 7

How bout a wind turbine with all those politicians runnin around, there should be a steady flow of hot air going through the capital LOL

Answer 8

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Answer 9

tell him in time the solar panels will have paid for themselves with money saved on electricity. i'd focus on how it will save him money and not talk too "green" with him if he doesn't care about our environment. good luck :)

Answer 10

tell him (the prinicipal) that it will help save a lot of money.