One of the largest privately-owned solar systems in Kansas is in operation with a goal of producing electricity for the public schools in Maize, a town in Sedgwick County. And school officials in Norman, Oklahoma are interested in perhaps doing the same thing.
It was earlier this month when the system went live with the capability of producing enough electricity to power 80 percent of the Maize Career Academy. Some 720 solar panels make up the system which is 400 feet long and 75 feet wide and sits in a field next to the Maize High School.
The man behind the solar power idea is Stan Bergkamp, a physics and chemistry teacher.
“I couldn’t talk to my chemistry classes about the acidification of the oceans or the bleaching of the coral reefs and personally not do something,” he said in an email, according to the Wichita Eagle.
Bergkamp estimates savings for the school will total $3,200 a month and more than $30,000 a year, once the system is paid for. He also says it should reduce annual carbon emissions by 240 tons.
“Hopefully, when we get that electricity bill in July for June’s usage, that’s when we will really be able to see what the savings are,” Bergkamp says. “We have computer models that say we should save about $3,200 a month.”
It was in 2017 when Bergkamp went before the Maize school board with the idea of the “Maize Solar Initiative: See Beyond.” He helped personally raise more than $160,000 of the $400,000 needed for the project. Beregkamp financed the remaining funds through ICM Inc., an ethanol plant in Colwich, Kansas.
“It sounds strange, and it’s hard to really articulate, but this path chose me,” Bergkamp said. “I saw this as an opportunity to give back to my students, to their children, and the kids that I will never see — because I know too much science to not do something.”
The Maize district school board supported Bergkamp in his project, but the support that really struck him was that of his students, he said.
“Without doubt the strongest supporters I have are the students that I have, and kids I’ve taught,” Bergkamp said. “What I underestimated when I started the project was the emotional impact it would have on my students and how proud they are to be a part of it.”
Bergkamp said $135,000 has already been paid to the plant, leaving about $280,000 to be paid, including the expected tax credit.
Once the system is paid off, the plan is to do the same for Maize South High School, the second largest consumer of energy in the district, and surrounding schools, he said.
“The short-term goal would be to have every building in the district to have some type of solar energy to supplement their energies,” Bergkamp said. “The long-term goal is to use this as a model that other districts can use.”
Already, officials from Norman, Okla. and Junction City have reached out to Bergkamp about installing the system at their individual schools.
“It’s an awesome example of what happens when an educator has a dream and can show his students, and his peers and colleagues and our graduates what happens when you mix your ‘know-how’ and your passion,” said Lori Buselt, Maize school district director of communication. “To me that’s the magic of this project.”
To honor the completion of the project, Maize High School will host a celebratory “Solar Fest” on June 27.
