School districts would then use money saved on their electric bill to pay the panel owner over 30 years.
Our schools can have a dual purpose of educating future generations about cleaner energy resources, and producing energy for their own school and the community, State Representative Lou Blessing said.
Ohio’s state law already requires new and renovated schools to be solar ready so that their rooftops can accommodate solar panels.
50 schools in Ohio have small scale solar arrays.
Environment Ohio, in a study release said that Ohio was home to more than 440 businesses and research institutions in solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and fuel cell industries. It also called on state leaders to expand and increase the Ohio Advanced Energy Fund, which provides grants and loans for renewable energy projects, to support the solar schools bill, and to push the Public Utilities Commission to pass rules as soon as possible on Ohio’s new renewable energy law.
