Last week was an exciting week for solar in California, especially for our solar school projects in California. Solar Power 2006 was held in San Jose, and thousands (over 7,000!) of people came from around the country (and world) to learn about the latest and greatest solar technologies in practice…as well as those soon headed our way. Below are some of the highlights from this exciting weeklong event.

NEED held a PG&E Solar Schools Program teacher training workshop on October 18th, and had teachers from around California. PG&E, in support of this internationally attended conference, also provided free training (including NEED’s hands-on solar kits/curricula, which is provided to all teachers trained through the PG&E Solar Schools Program) for some folks outside of California as well. We had visitors from Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and even Brazil attend or simply drop in to see the teachers in action!

As a part of this workshop, at a special luncheon ceremony, PG&E announced the 30 schools selected to receive the “PV on a stick” 1kW solar electric system.

• San Mateo County Youth Services Campus, San Mateo
• Pescadero Middle School, Pescadero
• Lakeshore Elementary School, San Francisco
• Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary School, San Francisco
• A.P. Giannini Middle School, San Francisco
• Frank McCoppin Elementary School, San Francisco
• Presidio Middle School, San Francisco
• Balboa High School, San Francisco
• Life Learning Academy Charter, San Francisco
• East Palo Alto Charter, East Palo Alto
• Oakland High School, Oakland
• Mount Diablo High School, Concord
• Rosa Parks Environmental Science Magnet, Berkeley
• Peralta Elementary School, Oakland
• Highland Elementary School, Seaside
• Gilroy High School, Gilroy
• Alice Shaw Elementary School, Santa Maria
• Pacheco Elementary School, San Luis Obispo
• Farmington Elementary School, Farmington
• Fairview Elementary School, Orland
• Eugene Padan Elementary School, Vacaville
• South Fork High School, Miranda
• Weitchpec Elementary School, Hoopa
• Lucerne Elementary School, Lucerne
• Arena Union Elementary School, Point Arena
• South Fortuna Elementary School, Fortuna
• Terrace Heights School, Lakeport
• Orleans Elementary School, Orleans
• Burrel Union Elementary School, Burrel

PG&E also announced the 18 schools chosen to receive up to $5,000 in “Bright Ideas” grants for their innovative solar science projects.

• Partnership for Student Success in Science School, Mountain View
• Island Elementary School, Lemoore
• San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco
• Plainfield Elementary School, Woodland
• Mattole Valley Charter School Dunes of Discovery, Arcata
• San Lorenzo High School, San Lorenzo
• Redway Elementary School, Redway
• Arroyo Seco Elementary, Livermore
• Foothill Middle School, Prather
• Redwood Middle School, Napa
• El Dorado Elementary School, Stockton
• KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy, San Francisco
• Dover Middle School, Fairfield
• Mission Springs Outdoor Education, Scotts Valley
• Yick Wo Alternative Elementary School, San Francisco
• Freedom Middle School, Bakersfield
• Independence School, Stockton
• Del Mar High School, San Jose

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council announced the winners of their annual awards at a special awards ceremony on October 16th. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council awarded the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Solar Schools Program the IREC Annual Innovation award for 2006. Each year, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council recognizes organizations that have implemented innovative projects during the past year that promote and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy technologies. This is the second award PG&E has received this year for their Solar Schools Program. The Solar Schools Program was also named the “Education Innovator of the Year” by the San Francisco Business Times for designing and implementing a highly successful program to train teachers, inform students and generate interest in the critical role that renewable resources play in meeting California’s energy needs. The award was presented to the company at the fifth annual Northern California Grantmakers Corporate Philanthropy Summit and Awards in San Francisco on July 20, 2006. Incindentally, PG&E also received an Award from the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA). This is the second time in two years that PG&E has received SEPA’s Solar Business Achievement in the category of public awareness and industry leadership. This is also the first time SEPA has honored any company with a “repeat” award.

Gov. Schwarzenegger closed the conference on the 19th with the launch of Go Solar California Web Site, and he took the opportunity to tout California’s Leadership on Solar Power…we can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2007 in California!

And…for those of you from other states, we can’t wait to see you grow as well. Let solar power, renewables, and overall energy awareness proliferate for all…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2006 at 1:08 pm and is filed under California, General Info, Solar Schools, Teacher Perspective . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.