(12/01/2006) The Springs School District is hoping to become the first local district to invest in a solar electric system, a step that could bring electric bills down to zero in years to come while providing an educational resource for students.

At a meeting on Nov. 13, the Springs School Board agreed to seek a project manager for a proposed 20-kilowatt system that could be installed on the school’s roof within the next two years. The expandable system would reduce electricity costs by 7 percent. Last year’s electricity bills at the school approached $70,000, and the cost has been increasing steadily.

According to Marc Clejan, whose East Hampton-based company, GREENLOGIC, is working with the district on a plan to install the photovoltaic panels, there is enough room on the roof for a 50-kilowatt system, and future expansion projects could lead to an electrically self-sufficient building.

The school already has “pitched roofs with excellent solar orientation” and room to accommodate panels that could power the entire building, Mr. Clejan said. The panels would be flush to the roof and barely visible, he said.

Rebates from the Long Island Power Authority and a grant from the State Education Department could cover the $200,000 installation cost of the 20-kilowatt system. Liliana Nealon, a researcher who recently joined GREENLOGIC to lead its “solar schools initiative,” recommended that the school consider moving up to a larger system in future years. She and her associates hope that the incentive programs will grow, allowing the school to take advantage of increased funding to add more panels later.

“We think, from a financial standpoint, it’s very hard to argue with this,” Mr. Clejan said in a presentation to the board. “You have no risk here; you can expand as the laws change.”

While LIPA offers incentives, it is “not a utility,” Thomas Quinn, the district superintendent, said at the meeting. “It’s a public benefit corporation that exists outside of New York State utility rules.”

That means that while the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority offers more substantial cash incentives and rebates, customers of LIPA and the New York Power Authority are not eligible for them. LIPA offers rebates of $4.75 per watt for schools and nonprofit organizations installing a solar electric system, but those rebates end after 10 kilowatts. The school would be offered a rebate of $47,500 on half of its planned 20-kilowatt system.

The rest of the state is eligible for rebates of $4 per watt on systems of up to 50 kilowatts. It is the hope of both Mr. Clejan and the school district that LIPA will reform its policies in the coming years. Were the school located outside of LIPA’s jurisdiction, it could install a 50-kilowatt system, zero-out its electric bill, and receive a $200,000 rebate.

“We would very much like to see them change their rules to conform to New York State utility standards,” Mr. Clejan said. He would like to see better net-metering incentives, for commercial and not-for-profit customers, across the board. When photovoltaic panels produce more energy than can be used at any given time, meters run backward, and electricity flows back into the power grid. Both upstate and in LIPA territory, nonresidential customers are reimbursed at a wholesale rate, whereas residential customers receive a credit from their utility companies at the same “retail” rate they paid for electricity.

“Unfortunately,” Mr. Clejan said, “if you’re in a situation where you’re producing more than you’re consuming, you’re basically giving back to LIPA.”

Through a new state grant program introduced this year, Expanding Our Children’s Education and Learning, the Springs School is eligible for $168,000 “earmarked toward energy and technology-related expenditures,” Mr. Quinn said. Although he said he sees no reason why the school would not receive the EXCEL grant, which would cover the bulk of installation costs, the State Education Department will not review the proposal until the district hires a project manager, he said.

Despite these uncertainties, “even if it’s a cost-neutral proposal, you’d still have a better environmental impact within the school,” said Christopher Kelley, the school board’s president.

Thomas Talmage, a board member, agreed. “Even if we don’t get the EXCEL grant, it’s still financially more viable,” he said. “This is the type of project where we could actually press the state to get moving on the EXCEL grant, because this is exactly what the world demands.”

“It’s a great thing to be able to get the schools moving in this direction,” Mr. Clejan said. “If the schools get their feet wet, there’s more pressure for building a better incentive program.”

Mr. Clejan is well aware that solar energy is “a brand-new and growing field,” and said he is excited about the educational opportunities that installing such a system in the school would create. His own “socially responsible for-profit business” is just over a year old, and he sees a lot of expansion potential.

“Most people just don’t understand this stuff,” he said of alternative energy. Making use of it in schools will mean that the next generation of electricity consumers — and entrepreneurs — will better understand it.

Targeting school districts as potential customers fits perfectly into the company’s philosophy, said Mr. Clejan and his business partner, Nesim Albukrek. “The education part of our corporate mission is a big one,” Mr. Clejan said.

With “an extensive background in not-for-profit work,” Ms. Nealon has been busy researching the most cost-effective ways for schools to make the green transition. Solar is “renewable, clean, and reduces our dependency on foreign oil,” she said. “It just gets everybody engaged. It’s a win-win proposal.”

Other schools on the East End have explored using solar energy, but the Springs School is the first to take the initiative. A group of parents at the Stella Maris School in Sag Harbor has been working to bring solar power to the school. As a private institution, however, Stella Maris is ineligible for the EXCEL grant.

The system at the Springs School would be the first “large solar system” that he is aware of at a school on the East End, Mr. Clejan said, although he added that he has started a dialogue with other districts, including Shelter Island.

In East Hampton, expansion plans are in the works for all three of the district’s schools, but no plans to use solar energy have been solidified.

“If we do that it will be on the high school addition,” said Raymond Gualtieri, the district superintendent. “It wouldn’t be cost-effective to go back and do it at John Marshall or the middle school.”