In Rockland, Massachusetts, where the only high school already has its full complement of solar photovoltaic panels, a $150,000 federal grant from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will now allow one of Rockland’s four elementary schools to also install a solar energy system.

The solar panels are destined for the roof of the R. Steward Esten Elementary School, or Esten School, at 733 Summer Street on the southeast side of the city.

There will, according to school energy committee representative Michael Mullen Jr., be 88 panels, with a nameplate rating for the entire system of about 24 kilowatts, producing about 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is expected to save the town, and the school district, between $4,000 and $6,000 annually.

The two solar arrays are an expression of the school committee’s September 2008 resolution to reduce energy use, according to Mullen, who says the district has already succeeded by more than 20 percent. These reductions have been achieved not only through solar-generated electricity at both schools, but also by lighting upgrades at the high school and more energy-efficient windows and doors at Esten.

The Esten School solar installation is only one example of the kinds of energy enhancements provided under the $13-million in federal funds given to Massachusetts, which have since been distributed to 111 communities.

In the case of the Esten School, the open roof expanse, lack of shadowing, and the ability to use a true north-south orientation made the decision to go solar almost a no-brainer. The situation is almost the same at the high school, where a large, flat roof aided the installation of $180,300 worth of solar panels, courtesy the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Clean Energy Choice grant in 2009.

Those 88 panels, fixed to the roof using a weighted system, will allow panel removal if and when high school renovation funds become available. The high school’s solar panel array, rated at 20.6 kilowatts, is expected to cut energy costs by $4,000 per year. The system began producing electricity on September 14, 2009, and a tie to the SolrenView site provides ongoing electricity production and system performance stats.

It’s nice to see a community so wholeheartedly behind solar energy and the “new energy economy”, as described by President Barack Obama during his inauguration speech. And it’s nice to know that, in spite of all the promises that have been broken or ignored, this one promise has been kept in the form of ARRA, which has provided $16.8 billion in renewable energy and energy efficiency project funding.