The Roanoke County School Board voted Thursday to seek proposals for a solar energy pilot program at Cave Spring High School.
The request for proposals will solicit bids for a power purchase agreement, which allows a school to pay a fixed rate for electricity from a vendor who installs and maintains solar panels, instead of having to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars up front to buy a solar array outright.
Such a project could save the school division about $2 million over 25 years, according to Todd Kageals, director of facilities and operations at Roanoke County Public Schools. If it goes well, the division might put solar panels on the roof of the new career and technical education building that’s slated to open in 2026.
“As a pilot, it makes sense,” board member David Linden said ahead of the vote. “I would love to see it at CTE, if we can get it up and running. It makes sense to let someone else have this cash outlay up front.”
The board asked Kageals to request proposals for 20- and 25-year lease periods, along with an option that would require a solar vendor to make an upfront payment to the division. That initial payment could be used to replace the roof on the school before solar panels were installed.
Kageals warned that any lease term shorter than 25 years would erase much of the cost-saving ability the board had discussed in previous meetings, but he agreed to the board’s request to look at options for shorter lease periods.
Board members Cheryl Facciani and Tim Greenway expressed concerns about entering into a long-term agreement with a third party.
“I wouldn’t want to be the school board 25 years from now that, for example, purchased a bad piece of land and then 10 years later they’re saying, ‘What the heck were they thinking?’” she said, which seemed to be a comment on the county’s recent announcement that it would sell the Poage Farm property it had purchased for future school construction, ahead of an expected population increase that never came to fruition.
“It’s just a long time and the risk-reward is not palatable enough for me,” she said. She ultimately voted in favor of putting out the request for proposals.
Greenway was the only vote opposing opening the procurement process. “It’s not a ‘no’ for solar, it’s got nothing to do with renewable energy,” he said, explaining that technology has been advancing so fast that it makes him feel uncomfortable with a 25-year commitment. “I just think this is not a good deal for our county public schools.”
