Dundee-Crown High school mulls wind turbine

Starting next year, instead of just reading about wind energy in a textbook, students at Dundee-Crown High School may be able to witness it firsthand.

The Carpentersville school is considering installing a small wind turbine on its campus as an educational tool for electricity students, teacher Nick Linden said.

"To have the wind turbine, it's just another way for the students to see something in action," Linden said. While the state requires Linden to teach renewable energy, he said students "need something tangible, something physical."

District 300 has explored installing a much larger windmill at its Hampshire campus that, it is hoped, would generate enough energy to power Hampshire High School and Wright Elementary School.

School officials also are working with two other suburban school districts to develop a wind farm downstate they hope will offset their schools' energy costs.

Unlike the proposed Hampshire turbine, the Carpentersville project would serve mainly an educational purpose. The turbine would feed into an electrical panel controlled by students, allowing them to switch between different energy sources and measure their output and efficiency, Linden said.

"The software the wind turbine provides is great because it's wireless and it pumps right into a classroom," said Casey Panichi, co-owner of Monarch Renewable Energy, the Elgin-based firm Linden has approached to install the turbine. "They can analyze the wind speeds and try to determine all the various factors that are producing energy for them."

Panichi estimates the windmill would be about 34 feet high, generate about 200 kilowatts-hours of energy per month and cost about $15,000. Linden hopes to fund the project entirely through grants.

Linden and Panichi will present their idea to the District 300 Construction and Facility Oversight Committee Monday. They've also initiated discussions with Carpentersville village officials, who ultimately must sign off on the proposal.

If the project can garner enough grant money and win the approval of district and village officials, Panichi expects to install the turbine in the spring.