This week we bring you the amazing story of a small 1kW solar array installed in 2001 at Muscatine High School. There are so many organizations and people who made this possible, it reminds me of an old-fashioned barn raising! The story does not stop there. Since this installation took place six years ago, you will hear the story of “where are they now” of many of the students involved.

Located on the Northern Banks of the Mississippi River, on the Iowa side of the Iowa/Illinois border is the rural town of Muscatine Iowa. In 2001, the journey began to put an educational 1kW solar array at the high school. John Root, Energy Services Advisor for Muscatine Power and Water described the process: “Round one, we began with Muscatine Power and Water donating and installing wooden utility poles to support the array. After we found two of the poles were shading the array, we chainsawed them to the right height.” Initially the solar array was installed behind the school, fenced off and out of sight. Three years later there was a need to install a communications tower where the array had been put. The entire system was relocated in front of the school, making the students and community more conscious of the presence of solar at the school.

“Now the solar array helps power the school’s LED sign .” Since the installation, the idea has sparked several systems to sprout up nearby. Root reports, “We call this ‘Solar Row.’ Muscatine Power and Water, and All Steel Inc. have each installed larger PV aray’s and Hoffman Inc. has installed a solar-thermal system.”

The Muscatine High Installation team was made up of approximately 10 high school students, and 10 community members. They installed the entire system in only 2 days! Mornings were spent in a workshop/ learning environment, while assembly took place in the afternoons.

Randy Teed, a senior in high school who worked on the installation said, “This was a real world experience - implementing the solar array” A majority of the high school installation team went on to be part of the Iowa State Electrathon team in college. This is a highschool team that builds and races electric cars under a very specific set of rules.

Currently studying engineering in college and a summer intern for Muscatine Power and Water, Teed states: “This project got me to where I am today.” While finishing his degree, he is also working on his Certified Energy Manager (CEM) certification, and going for his North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). http://www.nabcep.org/

Clearly inspired by the thought of clean renewable energy, these high school students are going far. Geoff Greenfield of Third Sun Solar & Wind Power firmly believes in solar in schools. “Solar in schools is planting seeds. These will be our next Senators, Congressmen…. policymakers. These systems have great educational value and offer the opportunity for a hands-on experience.” Third Sun Solar & Wind Power did the installation.

Many organizations and people need to be recognized for their part in the process:

• Glen Kizer from the Foundation for Environmental Education provided the panels
• John Root and Gary Wieskamp of Muscatine Power and Water - coordination of project and donation and installation of poles
• Wayne Engle of ESCO Electric donated the inverter
• Third Sun Solar & Wind Power (http://www.third-sun.com/) Geoff and Michelle Greenfield coordinated the installation
• Iowa Department of Natural Resources - donated a $7,000 kiosk that explains solar and the energy being generated by the system (a kiosk Mr. Root designed)
• High school students and community members for there donation of time and labor
• Muscatine Schools donated the land for the array

This is a great solar school success story. Just this past school year the solar array was continuing to ignite the spark in students. According to the Muscatine Journal, a local newspaper, “The (school) Board received a thank you from Muscatine High School senior Ryan Kral, who said he was pleased the Board has been supportive of placing solar panels at the high school and encouraging students who build cars powered by solar energy. Those students hold annual exhibitions called Electrathon race, where High School and College students from throughout the region bring their schools electric cars to race.”

Story submitted by Drs. Robert and Sonia Vogl - Oregon, Illinois

On Saturday, June 30, 2007, the Ogle County Fairgrounds may have become the first in Illinois to have a permanent solar electric system providing some of its power. A small group of committed volunteers including Tony Gerace of Amboy, Bob Piros of Chana, Mark Thoele of Savannah and Bob Vogl of Oregon showed up at 8:30 in the morning to install the system. On hand to greet the group and offer some assistance was Dave Englebrecht, President of the Ogle County Fair Association.

The installation was designed and installed under the direction of Dave and Jared Merrill from Byron who have installed both solar and small wind electric generators during the past few years. Dave provided an overview of the project and quickly got the crew working on installing the nearly one kilowatt system. By 3:00 p.m., the system was producing 650 watts of solar electricity.

What made the project special was that the electricity needed to power the tools used in the installation also came from the sun. A damaged 165 watt panel, which was no longer suitable for use in a solar array served as a portable solar power source. It is mounted on a dolly and charges a sealed gel cell battery attached to the base. An outlet, watt meter, inverter and charge controller mounted on the back of the dolly provide useable alternating current. Once a power tool is plugged into the outlet it is ready for work.

The panels, used Siemens from research park in Texas, were donated by Glen Kizer of The Foundation for Environmental Education. The group coordinates a program which installs one kilowatt solar systems on schools in Illinois, and around the country.

The panels themselves are only half the cost of a system. For this project, Solectria, the manufacturers of inverters, provided an 1800 watt DC to AC inverter at a discounted price. The Ogle County Fair Board made a donation to help offset the cost of the project. The remaining costs were borne by the Illinois Renewable Energy Association. The system could be doubled in size for an additional $7500 as the inverter used in the project has the capacity to process twice as much electricity as is currently being produced. We welcome any additional donations to help defray these costs.

The installation will be a welcomed addition to the Sixth Annual Illinois Renewable Energy and Sustainable Lifestyle Fair. We chose to install it over a month before the event so that the Fairgrounds could reap much of the benefit of the summer’s energy production. The installation will be a highlight of this summer’s energy fair. We plan to have a brief ceremony honoring those who donated equipment, money or time to the project on Saturday at 9:15. We also expect to develop a display explaining how the system works and acknowledging the many contributions to its success.

The system will only provide a small percentage of the electrical needs of the Fairgrounds. Its more significant role will be providing visitors with an example of how solar electricity works and its potential to generate a measure of clean, locally produced electricity. It may also serve to inspire parks, nature centers, fire districts, libraries, governmental bodies and farm operators to include solar and wind energy sources as a part of their renewable energy mix.

Join us in celebrating this small measure of solar energy independence at the Sixth Annual Illinois Renewable Energy and Sustainable Lifestyle Fair at the Ogle County Fairgrounds on August 11 and 12. The event is sponsored by The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, ComEd and The Rock River Times.

The full program is now posted on our web site illinoisrenew.org

In the summer of 2005, Reagan Middle School in Dixon, Illinois became the largest ground-mounted solar school in the state. Its 51.2 kW system was placed at a school named after President Ronald Reagan - in a town where he lived as a child. This large system shows off the fact that solar can supply a large amount of power, and educate at the same time. Pictured above are: George Reigle, District Architect with Green Associates out of Deerfield and Dekalb, IL; Erica Crescio, Principal of Reagan Middle School, and David Blackburn, Business Manager of Dixon Public Schools

Ironically, some of you may know that President Reagan had solar at the White House and certainly our solar technologies (thermal and photovoltaic) have come a long way in terms of reliability and scale since then. There is an interesting story on solar technologies in the White House here - http://www.solartoday.org/2003/may_june03/solar_wh.htm.

David Blackburn, Business Manager of Dixon Public Schools District 170 explained how the process began. “We were rather ambitious to start.” Early plans called for solar above a parking structure. After many revisions and number crunching they decided on the ground-mount system. It took a lot of collaboration, including board members and staff that were 100% behind going solar. “Now retired principal Woody Watson and board member Tom Lemoine were big supporters of the project.”

Everyone is aware about the environmental benefits of solar, however many still do not know that solar makes sense economically. The Reagan Middle School is on course for an 8-10 year payback on investment. This is made possible by a list of logistical and financial supporters:

• Glen Kizer from the Foundation for Environmental Education
• Rex Buhrmester from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Bob Romo from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation
• ComEd
• Spire Solar Chicago
• Green Associates of Deerfield, Illinois

Now that it is successfully up and running, it is all worth it. Blackburn said, “Dixon is proud to be on the front end of a renewable energy solution.”

For those of you that need a summer chill, take a look at these Solar Celebration images from February 2004! And for those of you in warmer climates, yes, that’s what snow looks like on a solar panel.

In late May, AP Giannini Middle School in South San Francisco dedicated their 1kW solar array with a solar celebration. As part of the PG&E Solar Schools program, it is one of 8 systems provided to schools in the San Francisco area this year. PG&E has awarded dozens of these systems to schools in California - cost free…by the end of the year, there will be 100.

This dedication was unique in that it included students from another solar school. These students were from Evergreen 6 in Paradise, California. Evergreen was awarded a solar installation in 2005, and was given the opportunity to share what they had learned with students just beginning to learn about solar first hand.

Pat Snyder, one of the teachers from Evergreen said, “This is a great opportunity for students in our small community to travel to the city and interact with students from the city. It is a classic case of country meets city and at the end of the day, all students recognized that being responsible about energy is something we can all do - regardless of where we live.”

Students from Evergreen set up a number of stations including: solar beads, solar cooking, facts about the sun, a solar telescope, renewable vs. non-renewable energy, hydrogen car (with hydrogen made from the sun), as well as a station that explained the PG&E grant and the online monitoring of all solar schools. PG&E was there with their Mobile Customer Education Center (bus), “Helmet” (the mascot of PG&E), a Hydrogen Fuel Cell car, and several staff.

The Foundation For Environmental Education, The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project, and representatives from SolarCity were on hand to assist in student learning. Several school and government officials were also on hand to support the project and to convey how renewable energy fits into their vision.

Greg Holman, another teacher from Paradise observed, “What a great way to get students excited about solar! Today has been a sort of ‘passing of the torch’ from students that have had an installation to students just starting the journey.”

Here is how one of his students felt about the day:

EXPERIENCING SOLAR FIRST HAND

My school, Evergreen 6, located in Paradise California, went to San Francisco to teach the students of A.P. Gianinni Middle School about their new sharp solar array. It felt great to teach students about the gift their school was getting! I worked the arts and crafts booth where we gave the students solar-bead bracelets. The students of A.P. Gianinni were very excited about the bracelets and learning how dangerous ultra violet rays are. The students learned that solar beads change color when the ultra violet rays become harmful. They were amazed how exposed we were, even on a cloudy day!

The students will have the chance to see first hand what their science books are saying. After all, books can only get you so far; experiencing solar power ‘hands on’ is far more exciting! One of the questions a student asked that really stood out to me was, “How will solar energy help the world and my school?” We told that student that solar energy was a renewable energy source that would help us be less dependent on fossil fuel. All in all, I think the students of both A.P. Gianinni and Evergreen 6 had a great time and learned a lot about solar energy. I know I did!

-Michaela Mundt
Paradise, California

Although it was overcast for the entire Solarbration, there were many lessons to be learned about solar. Solar ovens were not able to bake cookies. However, they did get forty degrees above the ambient temperature. Photovoltaic cells were able to generate electricity, even with heavy clouds. The pigments in solar beads changed color, reminding us that we need to protect our skin from the sun - even when we cannot see the sun.

What will be fascinating over the coming months, will be to compare data from the Bay Area solar schools installations. Although there will be several installations in and near San Francisco, we will be able to see micro-climates and how two systems can have different results, even if just a few blocks away. We will be able to investigate this large-scale science project with the only variable being the location - all with a few clicks of the mouse.

With so much excitement and enthusiasm from the students, staff and parents at A.P. Gianinni Middle School, the solar schools program is a seed that will rapidly grow to be a huge part of the experience at APG!

Livermore, CA

Camp Arroyo is located on a 138-acre site at Del Valle Regional Park south of Livermore. The site is the former location of the Alameda County Tuberculosis Sanitarium, at the end of Arroyo Road. In 1996 The Taylor Family Foundation decided to construct Camp Arroyo to support children in need, and partnered with the East Bay Regional Park and YMCA. Camp Arroyo is now one of the Bay Area’s Premier Environmental Education and Conference & Retreat Centers, and receives over 6,000 visitors annually. During the school year, many of these visitors are students in the 4th-6th grade, staying for up to 5 days. James Choe is the Director of Outdoor Environmental Education at the YMCA Outdoor School at Camp Arroyo in Livermore, California. Recently I was able to talk to Mr. Choe about many of the exciting energy related activities campers get to experience. Camp Arroyo was selected as a PG&E Solar School given their environmental vision, and connection to thousands of students.

The entire facility was built to be a working example of sustainable design and green architecture including: efficient windows and proper orientation to provide passive solar, solar hot water systems, and even a straw-bale building allow campers to understand that “going green” is not only good for the environment, it can be comfortable, economical, and attractive. The facility was recognized as one of the Top 10 Green Projects of 2002 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment.

For all green architecture aficionados out there, be sure to check out the Siegel & Strain Architects Camp Arroyo overview- http://www.siegelstrain.com/inst-arroyo.html.

In small naturalist-led Adventure Groups, students explore topics including: geology, watersheds, natural history, local Native American history, and a climbing wall. Topics are carefully designed to engage students, while at the same time correlating with state curriculum standards.

Students also study renewable energy sources. As one of the first round winners of the PG&E Solar Schools Installations in 2004, many activities revolve around solar energy. First, small solar panels are explored. Series and parallel circuits, solar panel orientation and shading are investigated. Next, solar is taken to a more concrete level. Larger panels are used to demonstrate power to a fountain and everyday electrical devices. There are two photovoltaic installations at Camp Arroyo - one next to the organic garden (powering a fountain), and the 1kW pole mount located down the hill (grid-tied). This continues the theme of becoming responsible citizens - keeping our impacts on the earth to a minimum.

If Camp Arroyo has you ready to pack like me, you can get more information at their website: http://www.ymcaeastbay.org/camparroyo/ Or, contact James directly at: jchoe@ymcaEastBay.org.

Story submitted by Alex Kizer

“Build a small, sufficient solar array on a man’s house; he saves money and uses clean energy. Build a large, sustaining solar model on the man’s community center; his community saves money and it teaches everyone how to help save the environment.”

Listening to Dave Merrill, the President of SunAir Systems, make this proclamation, while sliding my work gloves up to my wrists, I began to get a little nervous about what I had volunteered to do: Assist in the installation of a 1 kW photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of Upper Arlington High School. I am Solar Resource Corp’s Corporate Development Coordinator, and while I know everything about the schematics, the logistics, and the productivity of solar arrays—Photovoltaic or Thermal—I didn’t know anything about getting my hand’s dirty or the physical act of installation. I told Dave, “I can help you coordinate the installment, but I’m afraid I’ll screw something up, or attach the wrong wires if I am involved in the actual installation.”

My entire life, I have always wanted to be more blue-collar. I want to be more like my grandfathers and work with my hands, building. I am not sure where this compulsion comes from, but I like the idea of building instead of destroying. Destruction is much easier than building—a wrecking ball takes a button, but erecting a building takes work—and for someone who likes to be in control, there’s nothing more satisfying than hands-on building, creating.

That’s why I got into solar in the first place. Building a renewable resource infrastructure in a society where it’s just too easy to continue on our way, destroying our bodies, our air, and our homes, is the easy way out. Literally, it is pushing the button. It is the way we have always done it because no one wants to do the building. Well, not no one.

They say in politics that it takes years to move stones, and lifetimes to move mountains. Well, it’s a good thing for solar that the sun is high enough and—mountains or no mountains—all we need is a group of devoted individuals, who focus on building instead of destroying, to do great things for our community.

As the group dispersed Dave and I went to the building’s roof for inspection. The day before we had made the same trip onto Upper Arlington High School’s roof, but this time I was there as a participant and not an examiner. The plot Dave had lined out was still there, empty, and awaiting something. Like an empty puzzle spot in the middle of the puzzle’s board; this twenty feet plot was waiting to open up an entire community to a new way to do things.

My first task was to line up the 25 solar panels and strip them of their old electrical wire and replace each with a new one. I found the positive-charge ends of each panel—each panel has one end with a (+) and one end with a (-), just like a battery—and screwed in the appropriate wiring. The job was tedious, but I had no idea my skills of replacing the battery of my guitar pedal would be the only prerequisite needed to build the intra-circuit of the solar panel model.

“Perfect job,” Dave said as he looked over my ‘electrical’ work. “When those are finished we’ll get them to the roof for the display.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

“We’re going to the roof to attach the panels together. We’re building the display,” he said. Taken aback, I went back through my rolodex of knowledge of the various auxiliary power systems, and found Photovoltaic: The circuit is made up of a collector (Panels)—check—of a charge control (a conduit running from the display into the building), and DC/AC inverter (which takes the power from the sun and basically runs it through the wires in the form of usable energy), and the AC load center (turning the DC power into AC which is how the power is used). I guess Dave was right; next stop, putting the collector together in the form of the display. Seems too easy.

While Titan Power Solutions (one half of Solar Resource Corp’s joint-venture) was craning up the materials onto the roof of the High School, I paused for a photo op. I thought the best way to document this construction would be to take pictures of the progress of the build, so I had my camera ready at all times. The only problem I found was the quickness of the job itself. While I was working I forgot to take pictures.

As I became saturated in the melodic instructions given by Jim Groeber, I didn’t realize I was wiring the panels together onto the newly constructed frame. “Hey Dave,” I said, “I’m writing this article about the progress of this display but I forgot to get some more photos before we began installing the panels. Do you think we could take a few panels off, and reapply them so I can get some photos?”

You’re killing me Alex,” he said. “If we really need to.” Even though Dave was unhappy about my request, I found that one of the other gentlemen helping with the construction took a few photos of me, hands dirty, installing the panels. I told Dave those would work. “Never mind Dave, thanks,” I said.

With the display complete I wiped my brow and looked around at the tools and the small group required to complete (what I thought was) such a daunting task. The community of individuals on top of that roof saw past the politics of renewable energy—the name calling, the slander—and were the perfect balance of realism and idealism.

The notion that as an individual one can help the world is, without a doubt, idealistic. However, no one in Solar Resource Corp, Titan Power Solutions, or SunAirSystems wants to “fix” the world’s energy problems. What we want is to help by leading by example. It is like what “The Boss” once said, “You can’t start a fire without a spark.” And our aim is to show communities the plausibility of solar, then the rest will come with the combustion.

Looking past the High School I could see the Upper Arlington community of homes and rooftops; each rooftop representing potential space for energy savings, and each homeowner representing someone who could make a difference. I wanted to scream and say, “Complacency isn’t cool and change is inevitable, can’t you see that?” But I didn’t scream because Solar Resource Corp already had a plan for that community and I was standing on it. The High School was to be a shining example of the feasibility of solar technology and I was beginning to believe it was simple enough for residential construction and use, as well. I admit, before the day began I would be scared to death to tell someone installing solar in their own home is easy because I have a terrible poker-face. But it only takes a confidant teacher like Dave Merrill to share the know-how, and a small group of able individuals, and the rest is sun-baked cake.

Community Partners:

• Jim Groeber: did not charge any fee for the installation
• Dave Merrill: flew in from Illinois to help with the installation
• Solar Resources Corp: financed the project and supplied labor for free
• Titan Power Resources: coordinated the installation and supplied the lift
• American Electric Power: donated the solar panels through Learning from Light
• Upper Arlington School District: Paul Craft is the point person
• Upper Arlington High School Environmental Club
• Sustainability Roundtable of Central Ohio: Solar for $1.00 per day concept started here
• Foundation for Environmental Education: coordinated the project