Danville School to remove wind turbine, add solar

DANVILLE, Vt. (AP) —

The wind turbine at the Danville School is coming down but renewable energy will soon be a bigger part of the school.

Principal Dave Schilling told the school board this month that the $4,000-$11,000 in repairs needed to get an inverter working were not worth the small amount of power that the turbine generates, the Caledonian Record reported.

This month the school board unanimously voted to enter into a net metering agreement with a solar power company. Eighty percent of the school’s energy usage will be provided through a solar installation adjacent to the school.

“We set the amount of power purchased through credits at 80% to accommodate for future efficiency projects in the school building — we didn’t want to agree to buy more power than we’d need,” Schilling said. “Given the low output of the wind turbine (should it even be able to be restored), this is a significant improvement in our use of renewable energy.”

Twinfield School will use part of the installation and Cabot School may, too.

The turbine is expected to be removed before graduations in mid-June.