Meridian Junior High receives solar roof from anonymous donor

The sun continues to shine brightly on the Meridian School District, and now that sunshine is not going to be wasted.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, the roof on the Meridian Junior High School was augmented with new solar shingle systems created by The Dow Chemical Co. and installed by Herbert Roofing and Installation of Midland.

Meridian School District staff, along with several Dow Chemical employees involved in the project, gathered last week to dedicate the new system and share ideas on other uses that can be gleaned from the addition.

The DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle, a replacement shingle that takes up little space among existing shingles, collects solar energy that can be harnessed by the buildings that wear them. The technology can collect and generate several kilowatts of power for the building.

The project, referred to as The Meridian Junior High DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle System, is expected to generate a large amount of energy for the building.

The average home can generate about 3.5-4 kilowatts of energy with the system, said Wrendon Hunt, Dow Chemical associate commercial director. This system will generate about 20 kilowatts. This will give energy savings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in the next 20 or 30 years.

Hunt was one of the Dow employees on hand to answer questions as well as celebrate the gift from the anonymous benefactor.

We want to celebrate the donor today, said Josh Wimble, with marketing and business communications for Dow Solar and Dow Energy Materials.

Wimble said the gift will generate not only cost savings in energy use, but the new shingles also will last longer than standard asphalt shingles.

It protects as well or better than conventional shingles, Wimble said. And all of the wiring is internal.

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Meridian Junior High receives solar roof from anonymous donor