Nine solar panels stolen from Montclair Elementary

OAKLAND — Thieves have stolen nine solar panels from a portable at Montclair Elementary School, saddening teachers who used the panels to teach kids about conservation and the environment.

Staff at the school on Mountain Boulevard noticed the panels were missing last week.

"How low must you go when you steal from public education?" said Cathy Sharp, whose daughter is a second-grader at the school. "If someone stole the panels to sell them as scrap, then that's really sad."

The cobalt blue panels were installed on the portable in November 2002. Drivers could see them as they passed along Mountain Boulevard toward the Montclair shopping district. Students could also view them from the playground.

The thieves left behind three panels on the portable.

The panels produced about 6 kilowatt-hours each day, enough electricity to run a large refrigerator or up to 10 televisions each day. But just as importantly, the panels helped teachers and parents teach children about energy and the environment, Principal Nancy Bloom said.

"They produced enough power for a classroom," Bloom said Wednesday. "But they also produced enough power so that we could sell some of it back to PG&E."

Each of the panels is numbered, which Bloom hopes will help police track them down. Last year, a rash of solar panel thefts was reported in the Bay Area, including at Hearst Elementary School in Pleasanton. A suspect later tried to sell the stolen panels on Craigslist.

A state grant and donations collected through the Montclair school's Parent Teachers Association helped pay for the solar panels, which were installed by Cooperative Community Energy, a member-owned company that helps provide renewable energy to homeowners, businesses and cities.

"It's sad," Sharp said about the theft. "Especially for the kids. It's hard for them to understand that someone actually stole something from their school."