Petoskey may see solar installation following Sustainability Club's efforts

PETOSKEY — A set of solar panels may be coming to the Public Schools of Petoskey, thanks to fundraising from the Petoskey High School Sustainability Club.

Members of the Sustainability Club addressed the board of education during their meeting on June 20 to discuss what fundraising has looked like for the solar array, which is intended to cover a small portion of the district's electrical usage before committing to a full system to cover the whole district.

For a proof-of-concept array, the Sustainability Club raised a total of $19,000, they said during the meeting. The district agreed to match all donations, bringing the total to $38,000. Additionally, the district is considering incorporating a 40 percent tax rebate — which is offered by the Inflation Reduction Act — into the funding, which would allow the district to get a system that costs up to around $63,000, the students said.

"What that would look like is the district would buy a larger installation upfront and then come tax season, the cost for that would be reimbursed in a check from the government," Tommy Skinner, a recent graduate and member of the Sustainability Club, said during the presentation. "Then you have a larger system that can offer a better return as we move forward."

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The next step to bring in the solar panels would be a request for proposal, where the district would go out for bid and see if there are any installers in the community.

Throughout the process, members of the Sustainability Club have looked to Pellston Public Schools as an example. The Sustainability Club provided the board members with an example from Pellston for the request for proposal.

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They said that while Pellston said what kind of array they wanted, they believed they could offer a dollar amount and then see what the proposals come in for before determining how big of a system the district would be able to install.

The Sustainability Club has spoken with different installers and said they would be able to determine system array possibilities just based off the dollar amount available.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN .

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey may see solar installation following Sustainability Club's efforts