Solar panels on top of Litchfield High School are saving the Board of Education money.

An effort by school officials to reduce energy consumption is getting a boost from solar panels on the roof of the Litchfield High School cafeteria.

The panels were installed three years ago and are producing annual savings of about $1,000 a year. High school science teacher Dean Birdsall, who spearheaded the drive to acquire the panels, presented the numbers to the Board of Education on Wednesday.

Birdsall secured a grant from the Litchfield Education Foundation that was used to purchase and install the panels in 2007. The 5-kilowatt panels are environmentally friendly as well, Birdsall said, as they've saved 40,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released by the school.

The panels also serve as learning tools for science students who can collect data on the energy produced by the panels and use it in class. Birdsall said a more efficient collection system is being considered that would give students easier access to data. The upgrade would cost $350, he said, but no funding would be sought from the school board. The high school's Greener Impact Club, which Birdsall advises, has raised enough money to cover the upgrade.

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