Voters are asked to approve solar panels

As part of their science class curriculum, seventh-graders this winter faced the challenge of developing a device that would run on or use sunlight as an energy source.

The 24 students in Doug Chudzik's science class developed devices that ranged from an aluminum foil robot that stored solar energy that could be called upon at night, to a solar light bulb that drew electric energy from sunlight, to a solar-powered grill ignited by a magnifying glass.

Chudzik's students have become solar zealots, ready to explain the benefits of solar energy with the slightest encouragement.

"Using solar energy can save money and reduce use of fossil fuels," said Danny O'Steen, 12. "It's better for the environment, and it's better for people."

On March 12, O'Steen and his classmates crafted homemade concave "parabolic reflectors" out of cardboard and aluminum foil that they would eventually use to demonstrate how rays of sunlight can be directed onto a single point or line to generate heat or ignite fire.

Besides producing solar-literate seventh-graders, Keyport school officials are hoping that the students' unbridled solar enthusiasm will carry over to their parents, who will vote April 21 on whether to approve a $4 million referendum to construct solar cell panels on the roofs of the district's three buildings.

"We're hoping that they can share that learning with their parents," said Keyport Central School Principal Anthony Rapolla, who sat in on one of Chudzik's solar lessons on March 12.

Board of Education members believe that they can.

School board members say the district's proposed solar project also could serve as the means to pay for itself and the $1.5 million price tag to replace the Central School roof, school officials said.

Last replaced in 1987 for $387,000, the Central School roof will cost approximately $1.5 million, according to Armm Associates, the Cherry Hill-based roofing experts under contract to the Board of Education.
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By adding the estimated $2.5 million solar energy plan, that would bring the school district's proposed total capital outlay to about $4 million.
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Although the roof replacement is essentially mandatory, the board's solar energy plan is not.

Lyle Rawlings, president of Advanced Solar Products Inc., who provided a solar panel seminar to the board last October, said solar panels would pay for themselves by generating "solar renewed energy credits" that can be sold back to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities at the market rate for the life of the 15-year program.

After the 15-year period, the school district would sell the energy credits on the open market at a fixed kilowatt rate.

About 40 percent of that $4 million figure would be covered by state aid from the Department of Education, leaving Keyport with a $2.2 million balance.

"The question then is, How are we going to pay for it?" Podracky said last October, referring to the cost of the school roof. "Are we going to get a straightforward loan for five, six years, or is the roof going to pay for itself by investing in solar panels?"

"It's all about payback," Podracky added. "It's all about getting revenue back from what it invested."

Podracky said Keyport schools' electric bill is around $90,000 a year. Rawlings said based upon preliminary solar energy production estimates, the school district would generate about $255,000 in energy credits each year, and the project would pay for itself in 6.2 years.

The solar panel system, Rawlings said, would generate between 20 percent and 30 percent of the schools' energy needs.