There are almost too many ways to open a blog about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It can be enough to keep the post in the “drafts” folder for weeks. So, we’re just going to play it straight:
We put solar on Miss Shannon’s School for Girls from Beetlejuice.
If it was a real solar project, we likely would have pitched them on a new roof, too. Maybe a battery backup system, since the school — which in real life is a century-old Masonic Lodge — is located in rural Vermont? With the improvements in heat pump technology, the school could likely benefit from some whole home electrification solutions, too.
For now, we’ll start with solar only. But we’ll be checking back with the school-owners in the future to see about other needs.
Let’s get to the installation.
Luckily, the building axis is North-South (for real), so we have two full roof faces to put panels on. Again, we would do a structural analysis on that rusty metal roof, and show the school’s leadership the benefits of replacing it at the same time. Either way, the installation itself is a beauty.
All told, we have a 53.35 kW system made up of 127 panels. It’ll produce 52.8 MWh of electricity per year.
“Nice … model!”
– Beetlejuice
Estimates vary, of course, but the average electricity use for a 4,000+ square foot house is 42.5 kWh per day. Since the school is old, and likely drafty, let’s call it 100 kWh. That’s 36.5 MWh per year, without electrification. So, the owners could likely install heat pumps and still almost zero out their electric bill.
Want to learn more about the install, including CO2 emissions averted, oil saved, and more? Check out our Instagram for all the details.
(Special kudos to Aurora’s own Dale Houghton, Jason Miller, and Sheila McMenamin for the design, images, and idea.)