Story by Evelyn Diaz
Staff Writer
Photos by Madeline Madrigal
Staff Photographer
The South Pasadena Unified School District (SPUSD) completed its solar panel upgrade by the start of the 2024–25 school year. The first installation was at Monterey Hills Elementary on March 29. The main goal is to cut electricity costs and benefit the community.
The total cost of installation reached around $9 million. The installation took two months to complete over the summer, and the panels are expected to be fully operational by November.
Dave Lubs, assistant superintendent of business services, outlined three main goals: cutting school costs, protecting the environment, and providing shade for playgrounds and parking lots.
“It started with conversations with other school districts. The next step was to talk to school districts about which solar companies they used and narrow down the options. We interviewed those companies and chose Half Less to be our partner. It took a good two or three years of research to figure it out,” Lubs said.
SPHS Principal John Eldred said the high school’s annual electricity bill amounts to $900,000.
“These [solar panels] help us offset that and be more fiscally sound and physically responsible, especially with the budget cuts that are coming down from the state. I think it gives the school 40 percent of our energy,” Eldred said.
The district aims to save $400,000 on the electricity bill overall. They expect to return this amount over the next 20 years due to technological advancements.
In addition to reducing costs, SPUSD hopes to bring more awareness to the importance of the Earth. Other than routine maintenance, the solar panels don’t need any maintenance.
“[The panels are] teaching kids that the Earth matters. We’re putting those [solar panels] to create shade so that [the students] don’t have to be in the sun anymore, so there’s a skin cancer component,” Lubs said.
SPUSD accumulated $98 million worth of bond money, which helped the cost to install the panels.
“We’re using some one-time funds and some deferred maintenance, the one-time COVID money that put us over the top to be able to have enough money to do [the solar panels],”Lubs said. “But it was the bond that initially, the $98 million bond project from a couple years ago.”
Solar panels have been installed at various schools in South Pasadena: on Monterey Hills Elementary’s roof, Marengo and Arroyo Vista Elementary’s playgrounds, South Pasadena Middle School’s pickleball courts, and the parking lots of SPMS and SPHS.
While the installation of solar panels marks a significant step towards sustainability, the project has not been without its challenges.
“Usually the case with building projects, [is that] there are items below the school that you were unaware of,” Lubs said. “There was a pole underneath, so even if you change the slightest thing right now, the water doesn’t flow off in the same direction. We now need to reconsider our handicap placement entirely because it has an impact on the handicap spot.”
SPUSD hopes the scale of the project will bring a major positive impact on the community.
“Think about how much more environmentally responsible we are. You know, as a school district, all of our schools are doing it, not just one,” Eldred said.
