GUILDERLAND — The school district here is going to have a solar farm that will provide energy credits to save $4.7 million over the course of 20 years, according to Neil Sanders, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

Sanders described the plan as “highly lucrative” as all seven members of the school board present at the May 26 meeting voted in favor.

The district solicited seven vendors and four responded, Sanders said; SunEdison was chosen for the remote net metering program.

The electricity that is generated on the district’s 2 megawatt solar-energy farm, Sanders explained, will go into the National Grid system; the value of the solar electricity that is generated will be credited back to the school district each month.

Currently, New York State is offering incentives to solar energy providers and large electrical customers to invest in solar farms to reduce carbon emissions; Sanders said those incentives are likely to be scaled back significantly over the next year or so.

“We do want to get moving forward...to take advantage of incentives currently available,” Sanders told the board.

Sanders credited Clifford Nooney, the district’s director of facilities, with spearheading the project. The solar farm will be located near Dunnsville and Becker roads, Nooney said.

The solar farm could have been located on any property within the school district’s boundaries. Using off-site property, Sanders said, means the district doesn’t have to spend the time and expense to clear the 20 acres required to install the solar farm. Also, at the end of the negotiated lease term, the equipment would have to be replaced or removed, which would have cost the district.

Guilderland considered Borrego Solar as well as SunEdison — both companies have proven track records with large-scale remote net metering, Sanders said — but settled on SunEdison because, Sanders calculated, over 20 years, Borego’s proposal would have saved $4.3 million to SunEdison’s $4.7 million.

Ambassadors

Three foreign students — Hjoerdis Lorenzen and Kolya Wirth from Germany and Wiritpol Puengnen, nicknamed Knight, from Thailand — told the school board about their time at Guilderland, recounting their fondness for sports and friends as well as for academics.

Knight told about skiing for the first time. While on the slope, he realized he didn’t know how to stop and said, “This is not good.”

At the ski team’s banquet, he was presented with the “This Is Not Good” award.

Kolya, who did cross-country skiing and outdoor track, said, “It was a lot of fun for me, especially football.” He had played soccer in Germany, but never American football.

He also said of the high school guidance counselors, “It’s nice to have someone always check in with you.” He concluded, “I never met so many friendly people.”

Hjoerdis said that coming to Guilderland was the best decision of her life.

She recounted the thrill of being given a T-shirt to join the Red Sea cheering section and of an art teacher who opened her eyes and made her see that art will be part of her future. She formed “a strong bond” with the Guilderland Players, and enjoyed dancing and singing with them.

“This year made me grow as a person...expand my horizons,” said Hjoerdis.

“Be our ambassadors to the world,” said Barbara Fraterrigo, the school board president, when the students had finished speaking.