Kathy Stoltzfus, Hinkletown Mennonite School principal, shows off a view of the solar panels recently installed on the school's roof.
Chris Byers and Janelle Lieberher from Advanced Solar Industries display one of the many solar panels installed at Hinkletown Mennonite School.
Students at Hinkletown Mennonite School will see solar technology in action when school starts Aug. 22.
HMS joins numerous schools nationwide that have made the switch to solar power to save energy.
Advanced Solar Industries of New Holland, an HMS parent-connected business, installed the 468 solar panels on the school's roofs.
"The panels will supply 75 percent of the school's electrical needs," said Chris Byers, ASI creative relations manager.
Phase one at the Ephrata school was completed in April with the installation of one-third of the panels. Phase two was done in July.
Byers said the panels were installed on two different roof sections, but all power is channeled into 12 inverters that change the DC current generated by the panels into AC current for the school facilities.
ASI project manager Janelle Lieberher said that an inverter shed was built to house the solar electrical equipment that converts the solar energy into usable power.
The HMS board of directors approved the solar power project earlier this year after negotiating terms and entering into power purchase agreements with Sun Energy LLC to provide electricity at a long-term financial savings estimated at more than $250,000.
Board member Keith Brubacher said the energy savings provided through the sustainable solar practices will provide additional funding for the school's focus on quality education with a Biblical perspective in areas of "eternal significance ... teaching children God's unchanging truth."
Ruth Leaman, the school's director of advancement, agreed, saying, "It's a blessing that will benefit the school for many years."
The school's students in prekindergarten through eighth grade — there are about 200 — studied solar power in the spring.
Principal Kathy Stolzfus is excited that her students will get experiential learning about solar power through real-time web-based tracking on monitors in classrooms and in the lobby.
The goal, she said, is for teachers to move beyond textbooks and give students an authentic, real-world experience.
"If students and staff see the school's interest in renewable energy and its effectiveness," she said, "it can serve as an incentive for them to take it more seriously and connect it with their own lives."
