Green Energy Scheduled to Shine in Ballwin

Sunny skies usually are appreciated in most places, but in Ballwin, city aldermen are banking on those rays of light helping save money.

The board of aldermen Monday night voted to purchase a set of solar panels, which are scheduled to be installed atop the Ballwin Government Center before the end of the year.

City Administrator Bob Kuntz said the panels are expected to reduce the city’s electric bill by roughly 50 percent.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Kuntz said. “It’s a pretty big step for a city to do this.”

St. Louis County cities including Manchester already use solar panels atop the city's public works garage, and recently to additional city buildings.

Code Enforcement Supervisor Jerry Klein said the total cost of Ballwin's project will be approximately $57,000, but partially because of a state-funded grant, only about $18,200 will be paid by the city.

Kuntz said that despite the upfront cost, long term savings should splice the city’s annual electric costs in half.

“It’s expected to reduce our energy consumption by about 50 percent,” Kuntz said.

In some cases, independent energy sources can produce enough electricity to not only offset local costs, but create a surplus of energy input into the area’s electric grid, which then could be sold to a provider like Ameren Missouri.

However, that’s unlikely to happen in Ballwin, Klein said, largely because peak energy production periods will occur when the most energy is being consumed.

“I think when the highest amount of solar energy we’re producing is coming in, we’re going to be using it the most on air conditioning and other things.”