GVSD Solar Panel to be Discussed in Coming Months

Great Valley School District is still in talks of building a solar panel array on district-owned Bacton Hill Road propery. The solar panel array could save the district up to $700,000 of annual energy costs.

Although the facilities committee didn't discuss much of the proposed solar array on Monday, buildings and grounds supervisor Richard Krumrine said the district plans on getting an appraisal of the land as well as looking at the legality and feasibility of the 5.3-megawatt solar panel array.

According to an earlier article, Patch reported that the panel would cost the district about $15,000.

The school board, at a Sept. 18 meeting, voted to allocate funds for GVSD's lawyer to look into the solar array project.

Great Valley alumnus Robert Grillo approached the district with the idea long ago and is still pushing for the idea.

"The whole idea is a high-net-worth individual owns the solar asset and, over a 25-year period, donates all the electricity it creates back to Great Valley School District," Grillo said in September.

The proposed solar array would only cover about 40 percent of the Bacton Hill Road property while leaving enough room for a future school -- if needed.

Krumrine said there won't likely be any action on the solar panel array soon, but it'll be brought up again in the next few months. He added that the district is likely to strongly consider the project.

Stick with Patch for more updates as they come.