Bethel Park explores Solar for Schools grant possibility

Renovations to Bethel Park’s Independence Middle School include an apparently much-needed new roof.

“We’re finding more and more problems, and more urgency to address some of those,” Barry Christenson, school board president, said.

For potential help in paying for the project, district officials are considering applying for grants through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Solar for Schools program.

“Maybe there’s a way to use this kind of a program to help us offset some of the costs of repairing the roof,” Christenson said during the board’s Aug. 6 committee meeting. “That’s the reason for looking into this, not that we’re on a mission to spend all kinds of dollars just to go solar.”

His reference was to a recommendation by HDG Architects, the Robinson-based firm working with the district on the Independence project.

“They felt like we need to have a preliminary study done by some engineering experts in the area of solar power, solar energy, before they would suggest we pursue the grant,” Superintendent James Walsh said.

A goal of the analysis, he said, would be to answer questions such as: “Is this actually a feasible location for a solar field?” and “What kind of infrastructure changes would be necessary to facilitate this?”

“There is a cost for the study, a short amount of time, and then they would report back to you their findings on what you could expect, both in terms of upfront costs and then payoff costs, to following forward with this,” Walsh told school board members.

A board voting meeting is scheduled for Aug. 26. Christenson suggested that beforehand, officials could pursue the availability of free advisory resources.

He said Duquesne Light Co. provided assistance with the district’s preparations for adding electric buses to the transportation fleet, following Bethel Park’s selection to receive $2 million in federal rebate funding to purchase 10 “clean” vehicles.

In July, the state Legislature approved the Solar for Schools grant program with bipartisan support.

The program funds up to 50% of the cost of project construction using state money, according to Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia, who sponsored the Solar for Schools legislation. Federal money from the Inflation Reduction Act would cover 30% to 50% of the remaining installation costs, with school districts responsible for no more than 20%, plus operation and maintenance costs.