The prospect of placing solar panels on buildings within the district has progressed since the spring; a final consultant is in the process of being chosen to evaluate the viability of sites for panels.

The solar project is set up in a two phase operation; phase one is receiving a request for qualification (RFQ) in which a consultant will help evaluate sites. After the RFQ is accepted and sites are chosen, phase two includes getting a request for proposal (RFP) to physically begin the construction and planning of solar panels. Currently, the district is ready to initiate phase one, as the final consultant is nearly ready to begin assessing buildings.

Once chosen, the consultant will evaluate which buildings in the district are fit for solar panels and work to receive a request for proposal (RFP). An RFP will allow a bidder to begin constructing panels after final sites have been chosen.

“In reality, the RFQ was to secure services of a consultant who will help guide us through this process,” Superintendent Christine Johnson said. “Neither Northborough, Southborough or the schools have entertained a project of this scope before.”

“We are looking for a consultant who can provide us with not only assistance in moving to the next step, which would be an RFP that would really customize to our specifications, but also a consultant who can review the number of sites by doing pre-structural analysis and site analysis,” Johnson said.

The hope of placing panels on the schools serves more than just the benefit of energy and financial returns, but also provides an opportunity for an educational endeavor.

“We want any successful bidder to make sure they appreciate and support through their work the importance of providing educational opportunities for our students,” Johnson said.

Educational experiences with the panels may include allowing students to monitor units, the efficiency of the sun, the amount of energy generated, and to calculate investment returns. Panels on schools will bolster the STEM learning components of education.

“I think [the Solar Initiative Project] is a wonderful idea, fabulous, for multiple reasons,” AP Environmental Science Teacher Christina Connolly said. “Obviously, sustainable energy is way cleaner; it’s going to decrease our carbon emissions. I also think it’s great because these buildings aren’t going anywhere, it makes perfect sense… [schools] are a perfect place to put panels.”

“Solar gives the great education of ‘how does this work?’, not only for high school, but think of the elementary [students] and the way they could learn about it,” Assistant Principal Michele Tontodonato said.

To effectively achieve an educational gain, the district must move forward with the extensive process of finalizing proposals and sites for the panels.

“I’m hoping that we can get a finalist in place by the end of 2016, and I would hope they would be able to come to our town meeting in April of 2017 to update our towns on the project,” Northborough and Regional School Committee Member Patty Kress said.

“It’s not just about what about what this will yield in terms of financial gain, it’s also a strong statement from our communities that we believe it’s important to investigate every opportunity, to find funds that support the budget, but also to be as energy conscious and environmentally conscious as we can be,” Johnson said.