School Goes Solar

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Updated: 12:23 PM Aug 17, 2007 School Goes Solar An area school is going to be reducing their energy bills this coming school year. This morning Wisconsin Public Service Corp. installed solar panels on the roof of Marathon High School. Posted: 7:08 PM Aug 16, 2007 Reporter: Jonalee Merkel Email Address: jmerkel@wsaw.com

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An area school is going to be reducing their energy bills this coming school year.

This morning Wisconsin Public Service Corp. installed solar panels on the roof of Marathon High School.

"The demand for energy in the state of Wisconsin has increased by 3-4% every year since 1980 and we need to do something about that,” said Kelly Zagrzebski of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. “We have to think about conservation."

That’s why WPSC installed solar panels on the school’s roof as part of the SolarWise for Schools program.

They’re expected to generate enough electricity to power three classrooms.

Just five minutes after the switch was flipped the panels generated 1400 watts of electricity, or about enough to power a hair dryer.

The system is expected to save the school between $200 and $400 a year.

"We're going to talk about money we can save,” said Paul Fredrickson, a physics and chemistry teacher at the high school. “Obviously that's one point of interest I've always felt that is something that, really, until it financially hits people, sometimes it's not something people care about."

And students will be putting what they learn about the sun and its power to good use.

In May they’ll compete in the Solar Olympics.

"Who knows, someone here may be able to invent a solar system that will work for a whole house," Zagrzebski said.

The solar system is expected to provide electricity to the school for the next 25 years.