Turbine installation marks milestone for Grayslake students
It will be a few more weeks before brisk winter winds turn the blades of a turbine near the Prairie Crossing Charter School in Grayslake, but its installation Tuesday marked a milestone for two students.
Eighth-graders Nathan Husemoller and Yvan Soetarman watched with more than a passing interest as the 33-foot Skystream model turbine was lifted and bolted into place.
It was their proposal as seventh-graders that led to this moment, and the lessons transcended the scientific aspects of renewable energy.
Seventh- and eighth-graders at the schools have to suggest a project — typically focused on the environment — that may have an impact locally or beyond.
A previous project involved a walk to raise money for a community in Africa to create a reliable water source, for example.
“It was a school project. We had to do something to help the environment, and we had to learn something,” Soetarman said. “We thought this would be a good idea.”
Once the idea was accepted, the pair, who are friends outside the classroom, learned there was a lot of legwork involved. Finding a turbine, for example, topped the list. But the duo also had to secure an alternate location, which required surveying neighboring residents, appearing before the village's zoning board and writing grant proposals.
“It was fun but it was hard,” Husemoller said. His father, David, a senior planner with Lake County who did extensive work on the wind facilities aspect of the county's development ordinance, planted the seed.
The pair also created a website, pccswindturbine.webs.com, to chronicle the effort.
“Every little step, they had to be involved with. It's pretty incredible,” said the elder Husemoller, who also was on hand for Tuesday's event.
The turbine sits off Route 45 and Jones Point Road, at the entrance to the school and adjoining Prairie Crossing neighborhood. The turbine — more than $17,000 in materials and labor — was donated by Southwest Windpower of Flagstaff, Ariz., according to Paul LaBarbera, president and CEO of Magitek Energy Solutions Inc.
The Volo-based company found the lead on the donor and contributed work associated with the installation. Other contractors donated materials and labor for the concrete base and the crane to lift it in place.
About $600 will have to be raised to match a grant from the Liberty Prairie Foundation for underground drilling to allow the turbine to be connected to the power grid.
At 2.4 kilowatts at peak output and with an average annual wind speed of 12 mph, the turbine will generate the equivalent of about a third of the power used in a typical home each month, LaBarbera said.
Energy savings will be a bonus, but the tie-in of sustainable energy to curriculum is the chief goal. Lessons, such as how electric motors work and which wind direction generates the most power, are part of the plan.
Prairie Crossing is an environmentally focused public choice school.
“It'll go into our main operating grid, but the main concept is to use it as a teaching tool,” said Nigel Whittington, the school's executive director.
“We're going to be collecting data to see how well the turbine is working, and we'll put the information on our website,” Nathan Husemoller said.