Schools score solar systems

Schools across Florida will bring a little sunshine into their classrooms with the help of the Florida Solar Energy Center.

FSEC, a UCF research institute, picked 90 schools from across Florida, including East River High School and Memorial Middle School in Orlando, to receive 10-kilowatt, solar photovoltaic systems valued at more than $80,000 each.

As part of the SunSmart Schools E-Shelter program, the systems can power critical items during emergencies in schools that also serve as shelters. Additionally, the systems can reduce energy costs by up to $1,500 per year by supplementing the schools' electricity, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and educate students about solar energy.

"It helps raise the awareness of renewable energy technologies for students and teachers," said Susan Schleith, FSEC education coordinator and SunSmart program manager. "It's a way of getting more focus on clean technologies. It helps to stimulate the economy by creating more jobs...It also, of course, makes the environment a better place, and it helps with disaster preparedness."

The schools, including elementary school, middle school, high schools and one college, applied and were selected based on location, emergency shelter status, partnership opportunities and renewable energy education and outreach plans.

Schleith said the original program initially began 10 years ago as a demonstration project to get students to pay attention to solar power. But with the help of a $10 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus grant, FSEC saw an opportunity to provide practical benefits combined with education.

"We wanted to advance it to be more than just some demonstration project," said Bill Young, SunSmart technical program manager. "So we integrated it into the school program with the idea that it should be powering shelters."

Each school met with FSEC officials to determine which critical items would run off the system, which includes back-up batteries that can provide up to 25 kW hours, or three days of power. Most chose to power lights and receptacles in the emergency shelters.

However, education remains a key component of the program. FSEC developed a curriculum in conjunction with teachers and tailored it to students from kindergarten through college.

"It's a very hands-on curriculum where students are out doing science labs," Schleith said. "And what we found is that students are better prepared because they're getting up and out and actually applying this knowledge in a real-world setting."

A data acquisition system records the performance and operation of the solar system, and students can look at how much energy is created, with voltage, current, temperatures and other factors displayed on the internet. They can use the real-time data to calculate energy flow and consumption, turning lights on or off to see changes in the performance.

After placing earlier, lower-capacity solar systems on school roofs, Schleith said FSEC decided to install these 1,000-square-foot PV systems on the ground to make them more visible and provide better access.

"Students can see them. They can walk around them. They can open up the battery enclosures and look and see the inverter and all those different components," Schleith said. "So it's definitely a learning experience for them."

One school plans to use the system in a unique way. Island Coast High School in Cape Coral runs the Academy of Natural Resources, a science program that teaches sustainability and environmental stewardship through aquaculture, aquaponics and alternative energies.

"Our whole goal is to show that we can run a business totally off grid," science teacher Joe Mallon said. "That solar array is going to produce more than enough energy than it takes to run our aquaculture and aquaponics program here."

Mallon said the grant hels them in other ways as well.

"They provide us with other resources for teaching our classes," Mallon said. "They also provide training on how to use those resources."

But students aren't the only ones the SunSmart program targets.

"Part of the idea is not only educating the students, but also to educate the parents," Young said. "We're trying to set a new way of thinking. If solar can power an emergency shelter, certainly it can power your house."