Solar panels turned on

We flipped the switch to turn on Bright Power on April 20, 2016, during a commissioning ceremony for two solar panel arrays at the school. There are 100 monocrystalline solar panels that sit atop two roofs around the concourse and quadrangle area in the middle of the school. The arrays have the capacity to produce 30 kilowatts of energy, which is about 10 percent of what the school consumes a year. Through TVA’s Green Power Providers program, the school basically sells the energy it collects to TVA. The revenue generated in turn lowers the school’s energy costs.

With this project, Bright School joined a small number of elementary schools in the United States with solar panels. While the panels will help Bright reduce its carbon footprint and energy costs, the main purpose for the project is educating students.

“In 20 years, perhaps many elementary schools will have solar panels, but you will look back on this day and remember how Bright School was at the forefront,” Head of School O.J. Morgan told the fifth graders at the ceremony. “As leaders in the future, I want you to understand how to make good things happen.”

Click here to view solar power production.