Solar field producing electricity for utility, cash for district

A solar array at Zaun Field in the Town of Grafton is generating electricity for We Energies and revenue for the Grafton School District instead of additional complaints about the appearance of the installation, school officials said last week.

“I think there was some concerns raised at the town level, and I think those concerns have been addressed,” School Board President Paul Lorge said after the board received an update on the solar field at the School District Zaun Field property on River Bend Road.

Lorge was referring to a complaint from Town Plan Commission member Patrick Stemper, who in an Aug. 23 email to Lester Bartel, chairman of the town and the commission, wrote, “The Zaun solar array is an eyesore right now. All the grass that used to be in between the panels is dead. There are rampant weeds growing all over, some 5 feet high. The silt fence is still up.

“I think the time has come that we get the School District to live up to what the Plan Commission intended that solar array to look like.”

Commission members considered Stemper’s complaint last month, and after being briefed by John Daugherty, vice president of project development for SunVest Solar Inc., which constructed and will maintain the solar field for We Energies, on the plan to establish a prairie among the panels, seemed satisfied.

“I’ve actually planted a lot of prairies,” Plan Commission member Dan Vogel said. “This (the solar field prairie plan) is better for the future. This is a great idea. The planet is burning up. We don’t have time to mow more grass.”

At last week’s School Board meeting, the district’s Director of Facilities Jamie Scofield said SunVest has completed the final application of herbicide intended to kill the turf grass on the solar field site.

“The next phase is to grow prairie grass and wildflowers,” he said, noting that is a two-year process.

Schofield showed board members a photo of another solar field with an established prairie.

“We look forward to our installation looking like that soon,” Lorge said.

While SunVest is responsible for the landscaping inside the fence surrounding the panels, the district is responsible for the grounds outside the fence and has planted dozens of trees in that area, Scofield said.

After being delayed by supply chain issues that affected electrical parts manufactured overseas, the solar array was completed in December 2021 and began producing electricity in March.

The district began receiving monthly lease payments of $2,794 from We Energies, Director of Business Services Topher Adams said. It expects to receive about $33,000 annually from the utility.

The district’s technology staff is now working with We Energies to install sensors at the solar array that will allow students to monitor in real time how much electricity the panels are producing.