Schools explore solar power
Rudimentary science class experiments just got a lot more sophisticated.
The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and ComEd have teamed to dole out more than $200,000 for solar power and renewable energy education programs at 14 Chicago-area schools.
Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights and Spring Wood Middle School in Hanover Park are among the recipients. They'll use the grant money to install photovoltaic electric generation systems, which convert sunlight into electric power.
The school program, launched last year, won't cut the schools' energy costs. Its primary purpose is educational.
"As adults, we drive cars, see the price of gas and get our electric bills," Spring Wood Principal Craig Barringer said. "Kids need to know we need alternative energy. We want them to be aware of the environment."
The clean energy foundation pays schools up to $10,000 of construction costs. ComEd kicks in $2,000 to develop a renewable energy classroom curriculum supported by the Foundation for Environmental Education.
One or two solar panels will be installed at both Thomas and Spring Wood within a few months.
When the system is operating at its peak, enough energy is generated to power about two classrooms, according to the foundation.
It also launched a Web site this summer that provides real-time data, in addition to teacher guides.
Students can go to www.illinoissolarschools.org and see the number of watts their system is generating. It also shows the amount of greenhouse gases avoided and the number of houses and TVs the system could have powered over its lifetime.
The daily output accumulates over time.
For example, in the year that Roselle Middle School in Roselle has had the solar panels, the energy could have powered 45 homes for one day or operated a TV for 9,716 hours. The panels also saved 2,779 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
"This lends itself to many science, math and physics applications," said Gabriela Martin, the foundation's program officer for renewable energy. "It's an exciting and tangible way to learn."
Unfortunately, the systems won't be a money saver. The system may actually add about $100 to a school's annual electric bill, Martin said.
"Solar power is still more expensive than coal or nuclear power," Martin says. "But that used to be the case with wind 20 years ago, and now wind is competitive."
Thomas Middle School Principal Thomas O'Rourke said the system could provide immediate opportunities.
The seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum already has units on solar power, and installing solar panels on school grounds already was a part of the long-term plans for the science department, which wrote up the grant proposal.
Spring Wood's proposal was submitted by Gary Ofisher, finance director of Keeneyville Elementary District 20. He's leading the district's campaign to build a wind turbine at Greenbrook Elementary in Hanover Park.