State auditor lauds WACO solar project

The WACO school district generates its own energy from a solar project the district installed in late 2014.

Last week, state Auditor Rob Sand issued a report listing WACO's project as one of 80 public entity solar installations in the state that generate huge savings for taxpayers.

'I think taxpayers in the WACO district should be proud of their district being an early adopter of this opportunity to both save money and help mitigate climate change,” Sand said Monday.

According to Sand's report, the district saves about $40,000 per year in electricity costs by having the solar installation.

School board member Tim Graber was board president when the district decided to do the project.

'I helped get it started and head it up,” Graber said.

He said that in 2013, state and federal governments, as well as energy companies, were offering incentives, tax credits and rebates for anyone installing solar projects.

Graber said that he had taken advantage of the incentives and installed solar panels at his turkey building north of Wayland.

'A lot of farmers, myself included, put them up,” Graber said. 'It seemed like a good chance to get into alternative energy.”

He then got the idea that it might be a good idea for the school district.

School leaders looked into the idea and got the district's application in for incentives just before the rebate for Washington County solar projects expired at the end of 2013. Construction began in fall 2014.

The district has a large array of solar panels set up on the east side of the main campus along Pearl Street in Wayland.

Graber said they have since added panels at the elementary school in Crawfordsville and at some of the district's athletic fields.

He said that it is difficult to calculate the specific savings the district has realized, but that the district's utility bills 'have gone down substantially.”

Graber explained that the system is on 'net metering.”

'On a sunny day when our usage is down, we get credit for the energy we're producing,” he said.

Several years before installing the solar project, the district made a substantial investment in installing a geothermal heating system.

'That helps lower costs,” Graber said. 'We use solar energy to run our pumps. We're getting our heat source from the ground and using the sun to power that.”

The district has continued to try to find ways to conserve energy.

Graber said that after the solar array was installed, the district changed over to using all LED light bulbs.

They also installed timers and motion sensors throughout the building.

'If there's not activity, the lights shut off,” Graber said. 'We really became conscious of how we use energy.”

An added benefit has been the educational opportunities having the project on campus brings.

'It's nice to have this in an educational environment,” Graber said. 'When teachers talk about that in unit studies, they can show students that it's part of the school.”