EDITORIAL: Let the sunshine on TSTC
Texas State Technical College seems to have had its lion’s share of federal grants this past year. The latest — $1.2 million to put in solar panels that students will install — is one of the school’s brightest ideas yet.
TSTC will receive nearly $1 million in federal stimulus funds and $224,000 from Oncor power company to install solar panels on its electronics center, school officials announced last week.
With the money saved from the solar panels — about $30,000 in energy costs annually — the grant is expected to be paid off in 16 years. What’s more, students will get hands-on training by installing, maintaining and repairing the panels.
That’s quite an interactive classroom, which will include rooftops and carports throughout the sprawling Waco campus.
The solar panels will produce clean, green energy, which is a direction all institutions should be leaning toward. The Texas Legislature has set a goal of having a renewable energy portfolio of 10,000 megawatts by 2025, and “these projects will go toward meeting that number,” R.J. DeSilva of the Texas Comptroller’s State Energy Conservation Office told the Trib’s Mike Copeland last week.
We think this plan is most illuminating.
The solar panels are being supplied by Meridian Solar of Austin, and the project is expected to be completed by June. But the effects will last for many years. The solar panels are expected to produce energy for at least 30 years.
That should make us all think twice before we bemoan the scorching days of summer in Central Texas.
Bring on that sunshine.
This is just the latest bright idea from TSTC. The school’s Waco campus has been fortunate to land numerous grants, including a $12.3 million federal grant last year to create a nationwide liquid propane refueling network in areas such as Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin. Last year, the Economic Development Administration awarded TSTC $1.5 million toward development of a $13 million aerospace center of excellence.
Keep supplying the good news, TSTC.
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