Colville School District Goes Solar
Colville School District received an eco-friendly upgrade over the summer, thanks to The Giving Grid, a rural solar initiative from ZEN.
THE GIVING GRID
Spokesman-Review
9/24/20262 min read
Kindergartners from Michawn Vining’s gym class walk under a new solar array at Hofstetter School on Friday in Colville. (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
Colville School District received an eco-friendly upgrade over the summer .
The Giving Grid, a solar program that funds solar panels for rural communities at no cost, installed the devices at four schools in the Colville School District. The initiative is a collaboration through Zero Emissions Northwest, Washington State University and Partners for Rural Washington.
During the first 10 years after installation, Zero Emissions Northwest owns, operates and maintains the panels, leaving the district with no maintenance costs. The district then pays for the energy at rates about 75% lower than Avista Utilities. The solar panels are estimated to save the district as much as $4 million over the panels’ lifespan of 25 to 30 years.
“We recognize rural areas don’t have a lot of free time,” said David Funk, founder and president of Zero Emissions Northwest. “It’s hard for those communities to innovate and execute big projects.”
Four schools in Colville – Hofstetter Elementary, Fort Colville Elementary, Colville Junior High School and Colville High School – received solar panels. The project cost $1.5 million but was done at no cost to the district.
The program earlier installed solar panels at school in Harrington School District in Lincoln County.
The installation at each school took about a week to complete, Superintendent Kevin Knight said. The panels were up and running for the start of the school year, and so far, he said, they’re working well. The panels have been running for less than a month, and he’s hopeful the savings will be meaningful for the district.
“We’re always looking for funding,” he said.
The money the district saves on power will over the next 10 years fund curriculum, technology and other educational investments. Knight estimates the district will save $10,000 per building per year on power, which will go straight back to his students.
“If I could put $10,000 that I would have spent to Avista towards kids in Colville, I’d be wrong not to do it,” he said.
The solar panels are sleek on the roofs of Hofstetter Elementary and Colville High School. Knight worried they would be an eye sore or damage the old school buildings during installation. He joked the panels were an aesthetic upgrade on the paint-peeled roof at the high school.
Zero Emissions Northwest took care of everything, Knight said. The organization funded, installed, inspected and set up the panels with Avista for the district.
