Archive for the 'District of Columbia' Category

Two New Solar Schools in Worthington Ohio

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

Worthington, Ohio has two new solar schools! The first was installed on Colonial Hills Elementary School just east of High Street and just south of State Route 161, in the area known as Colonial Hills. The second was installed on Linworth Alternative High School which sits on SR 161, just West of SR 315. The pix below show that both solar school installations are awning mounted. Tim Gehring, with the Worthington School District, is the primary contact for both schools and has helped guide solar projects on several of the Worthington Schools. Both projects were done by Solar Cascade with founder Thomas Van Cleef as the primary contact at Solar Cascade.

Worthington Solar Panel

Worthington Solar Panel

Funding for these two projects came from a variety of donors. Canadian Solar donated the photovoltaic (PV) panels for both schools. Enphase donated the microinverters for Linworth Alternative High School. Tilton Automotive, Mary Ellen’s Starr’s family, The Columbus Jewish Foundation donated funding to the projects. Solar Cascade also donated time and materials and some funding and the Foundation for Environmental Education also donated some funding. And the Brian David Robertson Memorial Solar Schools Fund (BDR Fund) arranged for the donated equipment for both projects.

Illinois Solar School at Eisenhower Junior High School

Saturday, October 4th, 2014
On Cass Avenue in Darien, Illinois  (just off I-55) there is a new solar school installation at Eisenhower Junior High School.  Robert (Bob) Carlo is the primary contact.  Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation funded the solar school installation with a 90% grant that covered 90% of the total cost of the project.  ReneSola donated 4 of their 250 watt PV panels through the Brian David Robertson Foundation (BDR Foundation) to help with the school’s 10% share of the cost.
The solar panels are tied to a 4 Enphase micro inverters and the Enlighten Data system and the amount of electricity generated by this system of PV Solar Panels + Inverters can be seen at the <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/darien/eisenhower-junior-high.php”>IllinoisSolarSchools.org</a> web site.
The panels are clearly visible to the students and to parents and the entire neighborhood as they were installed awning style on a south-facing wall near one of the entrances to the school.
PIX HERE
There are 571 students at Eisenhower.

On Cass Avenue in Darien, Illinois  (just off I-55) there is a new solar school installation at Eisenhower Junior High School.  Robert (Bob) Carlo is the primary contact.  Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation funded the solar school installation with a 90% grant that covered 90% of the total cost of the project.  ReneSola donated 4 of their 250 watt PV panels through the Brian David Robertson Foundation (BDR Foundation) to help with the school’s 10% share of the cost.

The solar panels are tied to a 4 Enphase micro inverters and the Enlighten Data system and the amount of electricity generated by this system of PV Solar Panels + Inverters can be seen at the <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/darien/eisenhower-junior-high.php”>IllinoisSolarSchools.org</a> web site.

The panels are clearly visible to the students and to parents and the entire neighborhood as they were installed awning style on a south-facing wall near one of the entrances to the school.

Eisenhower School

There are 571 students at Eisenhower.

Illinois Solar School at Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School

Friday, September 26th, 2014
On North Christiana Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, there is a new solar school installation at <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/chicago/mary-gage-peterson-elementary.php”>Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School</a>. Ms Karla Holcomb is the primary contact.  Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation funded the solar school installation with a 90% grant that covered 90% of the total cost of the project. Canadian Solar donated 4 of their 250 watt PV panels through the Brian David Robertson Foundation (BDR Foundation) to help with the school’s 10% share of the cost.
The solar panels are tied to a 4 Enphase micro inverters and the Enlighten Data system and the amount of electricity generated by this system of PV Solar Panels + Inverters can be seen at <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/chicago/mary-gage-peterson-elementary.php”>Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School</a>.
The panels are clearly visible to the students as they are installed on a green roof of the school right outside classroom windows.
PIX HERE
There are 845 students at Peterson.

On North Christiana Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, there is a new solar school installation at <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/chicago/mary-gage-peterson-elementary.php”>Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School</a>. Ms Karla Holcomb is the primary contact.  Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation funded the solar school installation with a 90% grant that covered 90% of the total cost of the project. Canadian Solar donated 4 of their 250 watt PV panels through the Brian David Robertson Foundation (BDR Foundation) to help with the school’s 10% share of the cost.

The solar panels are tied to a 4 Enphase micro inverters and the Enlighten Data system and the amount of electricity generated by this system of PV Solar Panels + Inverters can be seen at <a href=”http://www.illinoissolarschools.org/solar-schools/chicago/mary-gage-peterson-elementary.php”>Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School</a>.

The panels are clearly visible to the students as they are installed on a green roof of the school right outside classroom windows.

Illinois Solar School at Mary Gage Peterson Elementary School

There are 845 students at Peterson.

Hawthorn District #73: Illinois Solar Schools Update No. 2

Saturday, April 19th, 2014
Here’s an update of what’s going on at Townline Elementary/School of Dual Language with the solar panels at that school:
4th grade: They are going to begin their unit on physical science about energy, which includes: solar energy and its conversion to other forms of energy such as electricity, which correlates to the Common Core Science Standards 4-ESS3.
1st grade:  Is planning on using items found within the NEED Project Kit such as the Nature Print Paper and is contemplating showing them an example of the model solar house when they begin their unit on sun, moon, and Earth
This update was provided by two teachers at the school:
Marissa and Ame
Here are some pix of the 8th grade energy fair held at Hawthorn District #73

Here’s an update of what’s going on at Townline Elementary/School of Dual Language with the solar panels at that school:

4th grade: They are going to begin their unit on physical science about energy, which includes: solar energy and its conversion to other forms of energy such as electricity, which correlates to the Common Core Science Standards 4-ESS3.

1st grade:  Is planning on using items found within the NEED Project Kit such as the Nature Print Paper and is contemplating showing them an example of the model solar house when they begin their unit on sun, moon, and Earth

This update was provided by two teachers at the school:

Marissa and Ame

Here are some pix of the 8th grade energy fair held at Hawthorn District #73

Hawthorn School Energy Fair

Hawthorn School Energy Fair

Hawthorn School Energy Fair

Hawthorn School Energy Fair

Hawthorn School Energy Fair

Solar School Projects: 3 Schools that highlight project visibility

Friday, November 22nd, 2013

One of the basic requirements for a solar school 1 kW grant project from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Project is visibility. The solar electricity panels are required to be installed so they are visible to students. The pictures below provide you with three (3) examples at schools around Illinois.

Unionridge

Unionridge

Prieto

Prieto

Elmwood

Elmwood

As you can see from the pix above, panels can be high up near the top of a tall school building (Prieto Academy in Chicago) or high on the wall of the building above the front entrance (Union Ridge) or near the ground at a level many schools call “mower height” that is near the front entrance of the school (Elmwood Jr/Sr HS). All of these installations create high visibility for the solar panels and make the solar school project at each school more successful.

Solar School at Kewanee High School in Kewanee, Illinois

Friday, April 5th, 2013

One of the newest schools in the Illinois Solar Schools Program is Kewanee High School in Kewanee, Illinois.

Illinois Kewanee High School

The installation is a 1.25 kW PV system using 5 REC 250 watt solar panels and an Enphase inverter. The panels sit at a 35 degree angle and are mounted on the edge of the roof so they are visible to the students at the school for this school year and for many years to come.

Kewanee High School has over 500 students which is rather large for a rural school but the average
class size is only 17 students. James Bryan is the Principal and our primary contact. Here is how he describes his school:

Kewanee High School offers unique programs for a rural school.  Kewanee High School offers a wide range of Career and Technical Education courses in business, family and consumer sciences, agricultural, woods, and metals(including welding). Along with our traditional educational programming, students at Kewanee High School are offered multiple avenues to explore in order to prepare them for life after graduation.  Kewanee High School also offers “dual credit” courses with the local junior college, Black Hawk – East Campus. These dual credit courses allow students to earn both high school and college credit at the same time for a nominal fee.