In the Jasper County Community Unit School District #1 in Newton, Illinois, one of the newest schools in the Illinois Solar Schools Program is Newton Elementary School. Their solar electricity or photovoltaic or PV system is 1,020 watts and consists of 6 Sharp solar panels rated at 170 watts each. View the solar electricity generation data showing how much the system at Newton Elementary is producing.

There are 571 students in their district and Phil Benefial the Director of Buildings and Grounds and Travis Wyatt the school principal were the prime movers for the installation.

Jasper Solar Installation

According to Phil, “Our entire district is excited about the solar installation. We are so thankful to Illinois Clean Energy for providing us with the grant funds to go forward with this project.”

The project was funded in large part from a grant from Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. “We are delighted that Newton Illinois has joined our solar schools program and we look forward to working with them over the next few years to create unique and innovative educational opportunities for their students. They will have a chance to explore the science and math of solar energy in a way that many students never get to do,” said Gabriela Martin of Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

This school, as well as solar schools all over Illinois, can be seen at IllinoisSolarSchools.org

Teacher training workshops will be held in December, 2010. One workshop will be Springfield and the other will be held in Chicago. The National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) is conducting the workshops and the details will be sent out to the school contacts for all of the solar schools in October.

–Glen Kizer

In Mt Zion, Illinois, the Mt Zion Intermediate School recently completed a 1 kW photovoltaic (or PV) installation with the help of a grant from Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. The project involves a PV system installed awning style on the side of the school building, solar energy education in the classroom, teacher training workshops, live streaming data showing how much electricity is being created by the PV system, and a solar celebration.

Dr. Travis Roundcount is the primary contact at the school and has been the main force guiding the project from grant application to the hiring of the installer to the completion of the installation. Dr. Roundcount told us:

“The Mt. Zion community is very pleased to have taken the first steps in using alternative energy and I believe a large scale solar power project will be in our future.”

The live data stream will be visible later this week at IllinoisSolarSchools.org but is currently available here.

The system consists of 6 Sharp 175 watt solar panels and an enphase inverter.

If you want to ask Dr.. Roundcount any questions or congratulate him and his school, here is his email.

And by Monday the Mt Zion Intermediate School will have a web page up at IllinoisSolarSchools.org. We just wanted to give you this early preview of the project and a picture so you could see what the installation looks like.

–Glen Kizer

Solar for Africa and the Amazon – Solar Electric Light Fund – fighting climate change and poverty with solar - Give Now

Solar Advocacy – support the solar advocates doing work around the US – Vote Solar - Give Now

Solar for Turtles – La Tortuga Feliz – help support the next phase of solar work at the sanctuary and the turtles year round - Give Now

Solar Affordable Housing – Grid Alternatives – low income housing and green jobs in California - Give Now

Solar Education – 100 People Foundation – connecting more schools and profiling solar leaders in the US and around the world  - Give Now

This is by no means an exhaustive list…pick your solar cause, and let’s change our solar present and future together!

By Katie Kizer

People tend to start renewable energy projects – and more specifically, solar PV projects—for all sorts of reasons. They want to educate students, promote awareness in the community, or they may just want to prove they are “going green” along with the rest of the world. After taking the initiative to start these types of projects, a more appropriate question that arises is, why do they keep going? As Steve Ruelli of the Skokie School District 73.5 explains it, he was bitten by the bug.

After a successful solar PV installation at McCracken Middle School, Steve’s interest immediately turned to possible improvements on the John Middleton Elementary School. He explored various options for energy efficiency and renewable energy, yet he decided to once again pursue a solar PV system. This is because roof-mounted solar PV panels can easily be integrated into existing buildings, such as the elementary school. They installed another 1 kW solar PV system, for which data is available to monitor online, and Steve is already looking to expand. The project’s funding was made possible by ComEd and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.Back to the original question, why keep going?

It’s because people like Steve know that it works.

It’s also because the Skokie School District is very supportive of green technologies, and in the type of environment where innovation is encouraged and even facilitated, renewable energy thrives. All it takes is one committed person, like Steve, who knows the ropes.

Like the McCracken installation and all of the Illinois Solar Schools, this system will be used as an educational tool for students, staff, and community to learn about the power of the sun. As the district has continued to expand upon its green credentials, its reputation has mirrored the advancements. Steve explains that he is being asked to be part of a “green tour” as a result of the example that the district has set. He has also been asked to head a test project for a 30-50 kW solar PV system. Such a large system would offset a notable portion of energy while saving a chunk of change on utility bills.

Not only have the people of Skokie School District 73.5 seen this technology work, they are continuing to set the bar for what these installations can achieve. Steve told me that his goal is to be a leader in the industry and to exemplify these successful systems for other educational facilities—a way for others to learn from Skokie’s example. If you ask me, we should all be bitten by the bug.

 

Our 8^th grade students have really been impressive in their effort to help the school district save money along with seeking out ways for the school to use more sustainable energy. Last year’s students were originally presented with a problem to look for ways to reduce energy use and cost in our school. One of their solutions was to use energy-saving lights. Thanks to an administration that listens to students and the generous support of the Lutron lighting company, our classroom is now fitted with a balance LC system that measures the sunlight coming in the room to determine the amount of electric light needed. That system has resulted in a 50% savings in energy use and is part of a new Lutron program involving schools nationwide called Greenovation. (For more information about Greenovation you can visit www.lutron.com/greenovation).

The students were also interested in capturing solar energy. We had Mr. Jay Bingaman from Thomas school visit to explain how their solar array worked and the process he went through to get funding from Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. The ambitious group of students followed up by writing a grant for South. Again with the support of administration we were able to receive the grant and enjoy our new array. This year’s students have been inspired to follow in the path of the previous class. They are currently working on an application for the Ecozone Contest for $100,000.

CBS News Chicago did a report on our entry process. (To see a copy of the CBS piece go to 

http://cbs2chicago.com/video/?id=52486@wbbm.dayport.com).

Since both our panel and lighting system will be connected to a web site, we can monitor both energy use and production. Our students will be monitoring each sustainable effort to make appropriate decisions in regards to changes we will make in the future. We will also be planning our Solar Celebration for April 9.

Our students are having a tremendous impact in reducing our school’s carbon footprint as they show leadership and creativity in their efforts.

 

Story submitted by the team at Saint Malachy

Everyday sunlight strikes a portion of earth for 7 to 8 hours. Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource in the world. The sun delivers 4 million watts of energy to an acre of surface on a sunny day. If the sun had shown for 8 hours on an acre of soil in your back yard yesterday, it would have received enough solar energy to generate 32,000 kilowatts hours of energy. It would only take about 5.5 acres of sunshine to provide Geneseo with all it’s daily power requirements if we could find efficient methods of converting, storing and transmitting solar energy to electricity for Geneseo residents.

Saint Malachy School students, led by Mrs. Franque’s sixth grade class, are going to study how a photovoltaic cell solar system reaches out to collect sunlight and convert it to electrical power for school use. Classroom lessons designed around a solar energy collector will include mathematics, accounting, chemistry, physics, computer technology, and meteorology. Students will have “hands on” interaction with more ecologically responsible technology tracking how power generation is affected by sun angles, cloudiness, length of day, air temperature, and equipment efficiency.

Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation granted Saint Malachy School the money needed to purchase and install a new solar collector system and Commonwealth Edison is helping to pay for the teacher training workshops and the Illinois Solar School Program administration. 

Dave Merrill of Sunair Systems from Byron, Illinois supplied and installed the new equipment on September 11, 2008. Father Pakula is Pastor of Saint Malachy Catholic Parish and School and Stan Griffin is principal of this K-6 grade parochial school located on I-80 just 20 miles East of the Mississippi River. This beautiful church/school campus is used to educate 120 children with the dedication of 11 teachers and 3 aids. 

Gregg Swanson, Building and Grounds Maintenance Supervisor said that the One Kilowatt System has provided about 55kWh of energy in the first 18 days of operation, saving the Parish almost $11.00. One classroom can be lighted with the power generated by the new solar system on a sunny day.

Other schools in the area who have similar solar collection systems are

 

• Logan Junior High School: Princeton, Illinois
• Alwood School: Woodhull, Illinois
• Nelson Elementary School: Nelson, Illinois

 

You may go to the following websites to gain more information on solar collection systems:

www.illinoissolarschools.org

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar