Story and photos from Greg Holman

As many people on the west coast are living in  the smoke of hundreds (down from thousands) of lightning fires, it would be logical to do a story about the only regular maintenance involved in owning a solar system - periodically cleaning the panels. However, this is about something much different. With the instantaneous distribution of information, news, video and images, we are becoming a country - no, a world of desensitized individuals. 10,000 perish in an earthquake in the Middle East, millions of people displaced because of a hydroelectric project in China, and the list goes on. So, when more than 80 homes burned in the wind-driven “Humboldt” wildfire in Paradise, California, it was “section B” news for many people.

For residents living in and around the town of Paradise, this was reality. Thousands of people were displaced, most temporarily. Others were displaced from their homes forever. Somehow, this is amplified when it is realized that 7 of the people who lost everything were my former students.

The PG&E Solar Schools program began in 2004. Who knew that it would grow to the large community of schools, non-profits, and people passionate about the program. Before the fire was even out, there had been several teachers throughout the state, officials from the Solar Schools Program, NEED, and the Foundation for Environmental Education calling and emailing to see if their school in Paradise was alright. Stay tuned for an article on what is being done for those students who lost their homes.

When something of such large scale hits so close to home, you realize how little we need to get by. Quickly, you see just how much we do each day is an “extra” and non-essential to go through life. Many of the people most affected are the ones with such a positive outlook – ready to rebuild and move on. Looking at my family and house still standing, I realize that so many things that we plug in are just luxuries.

As I am writing this, a three-week siege of lightning fires are slowly coming under control all over California, and again in the Paradise area. 50 more homes were lost in the region to these fires. Over 10,000 people are being allowed back into their homes as evacuation orders are being lifted. The governor twice, and tomorrow the President, will be in the area to assess the damage and plan for recovery.

If the second round of fires were not bad enough, today it was announced that the first fire has been deemed arson.

Lets focus on what we can control. First, get out and give your solar panels a good cleaning. Squeeze out every extra free watt you can by using “soft” water and a squeegee. Next, try to volunteer in your area in any capacity that you can for emergency preparedness. Donations of used clothing and goods to non-profits, financial donations, or volunteering for a number of local organizations can be ways to help!

Anyone interested in helping is encouraged to donate to their local chapter of the American Red Cross, or for people specifically in Paradise: the American Red Cross or the Paradise Community Foundation (www.paradisecommunityfoundation.com).

On Tuesday, March 25, 2008 solar cooking became “mainstream” in California. California Ag Day was held on the west steps of the state Capitol building. This year’s theme was “Decisions Today will be Impacting Tomorrow.” Thousands attended to see booths relating to agriculture in California and healthy eating. Over 1,200 people sampled solar cooked sweet potatoes made by 6th graders from Paradise Intermediate School’s Evergreen 6 program and 4th-5th grade students from Plainfield school in Woodland. Those sampling the solar-oven-made goods included hundreds from the public, celebrity chef Guy Fieri from the Food Network, and several policy makers including assemblymen and the Governor himself! The following story shares some perspectives from that day.

“Talking to many people at on time about how our solar ovens work and what we came to do that day, was hard, but soon got easier as the day wore on. I started to say the same thing over and over again, and had to find something new to say. When I found something that sounded right, I would start to say that over again and would start the process again. Near the end of the day, the governor came around to all the booths to try the great food and listen to people talking about the agriculture of California. At first I was nervous, but near the end of my part of the speech, it was just like talking to a regular person.” Serenity Fitzgerald, 6th Grade - Evergreen 6

“On Tuesday March 25, 2008, Evergreen 6 took thirteen students to the California State Agriculture day. I was one of those lucky thirteen students to attend. Serenity Fitzgerald and I recited the following speech: ‘Hello, would you like to try a sweet potato that we have made in our solar ovens? We are a solar school in Paradise, California and our name is Evergreen 6. We are a solar school because we have a solar panel at our school and we have sixteen ovens that we have cooked in today.’ Little did we know that one of the people we would be reciting this speech to was the governor of California: Arnold Schwarzenegger! After he tried one he said, ‘Good job. Fabulous, keep up the good work.’ Serenity and I shook his hand and then he moved on. The task of serving the governor was exciting and rewarding.”
Jennifer Olson, 6th Grade - Evergreen 6

“In Sacramento, at the California on Agriculture Day, I was cooking sweet potato fries. We cooked them at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. We cooked 30 bags of them. The normal temperature for cooking them is 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-20 minutes. Since our ovens did not get that hot we had to make do with what we had. It was very quick going after a while. We put salt and pepper on the fries. We served them on toothpicks and in cups.”
Cooper Hawkley, 6th Grade - Evergreen 6

“Our students were thrilled to serve Governor Schwarzenegger some of our solar-baked fries and tell him about our solar oven project. The students working at the serving table, Jennifer and Serenity were very professional and did an awesome job talking to the governor, as well as all of the other visitors to our booth. Other students kept an eye on the food as it cooked in the sun and talked to passers-by about how the solar ovens cook food using only the energy form the sun. Watching our students educate others about the importance of conservation and renewable energy was a powerful experience!”
Amy Behlke, a teacher from Evergreen 6

“The students really stole the show. They were incredibly professional and well prepared. I am so proud that they are part of the PG&E Solar Schools Program.”
Karalee Browne, Charitable Contributions/ Solar Schools Program Manager

A PG&E “Bright Ideas Grant” made the students’ purchase of 16 sun ovens possible. These durable yet portable ovens will bake virtually anything you can bake in your home oven and they use zero electricity! The project is aimed at teaching students to understand solar and renewable energy through hands-on activities. One goal of the project is to sell baked items, then use the proceeds to send more solar ovens to a remote village in Africa. With PG&E’s help, the students are on their way to sending a second oven! Another goal of the project is to increase awareness of solar energy.

As a major sponsor of the event, PG&E did more than just “talk the talk.” “What better, and fun way, to illustrate the impact renewable power can make on our future than to have a celebrity chef instruct our future leaders on the importance of healthy eating by using solar power?” said Vice President of Civic Partnerships and Community Initiatives Ophelia Basgal.While a solar trailer powered the California Ag Day sound system, celebrity chef, Guy Fieri was cooking in a solar-powered kitchen. His enthusiasm and energy were contagious. He mingled with the crowd, happily signing autographs and talking with fans.

An event like this does not happen without hard work and great organization. There are many at PG&E that created this perfect “solar storm.” A special thanks to the following:

• Event Planners: Susie Martinez, Tracy Gremillion
• Solar Schools Program Manager: Karalee Browne
• Public Affairs: Dan Kim
• Area Support: Dolly Hazel, Jeannette Ho (Helmet)
• News Support Jennifer Ramp , Paul Moreno

In the end, the day exceeded everyone’s expectations. Greg Holman, another teacher from Evergreen 6 adds, “The students were extremely excited to be part of California Ag Day. As the hundreds in attendance started to crowd around the solar ovens, they began to see that they were truly sharing something most people are not aware of. Many asked where they could buy their own solar oven, and even more walked away with a huge smile. Not only was the food delicious, it was made virtually carbon-free! Solar cooking on the Capitol steps seems like it could not be topped. Add to that the huge interest in solar cooking, friendly celebrity chef Guy Fieri, and a visit by a genuinely interested celebrity governor! Everyone involved will never forget that day….”

Story input provided by Nola

I am a teacher at the Clearlake Community School in Clearlake, California. I love living around the lake and having the lake as a center for our community as well as for neighboring communities like Lakeport and Lucerne and Kelseyville. The lake connects us and holds us together. I love having my friends and my family all living in and around this wonderful creation of nature. In the morning the sunlight hits the water and there is a mist that rises that you would have to see to understand. And every sunny day the lake is this wonderful blue color made vibrant by the yellow sun and the blue sky.

It is not a perfect circle in shape and the shoreline is varied and some places there are houses and bridges and other places there are just fish and birds. The lake is not a human invention, but rather a natural phenomenon. There are many lakes around the United States and around the world, but each lake is unique. Our lake is unique. And Clearlake is a beautiful place to live and work because almost wherever we go we can see the lake in the background.

My “people” have been driving around and living along the perimeter and boating on this wonderful lake since before I was born and they will do so long after I am gone. My friends live here. Few manmade structures offer us such a connection to each other as this clear lake. But I am gradually starting to get used to one manmade structure, the solar electricity panels in our “solar on a stick” pole mounted PV system. It is kind of an odd shape and some people might say it looks like a flower or a tree. It never moves and there is nothing turning and there is nothing burning inside. It is like a rock, but it is becoming familiar to me. I am getting comfortable with it. It is becoming part of our community.

This solar electricity system reminds me of the lake. The solar panels are arranged into an array, as a group of panels, and the array sits at the top of the pole at the school and collects sunlight just like the lake. And the array is blue just like the lake. Every morning the sun hits the solar panels and it wakes up and starts to make electricity. At night, the sun goes dark and the solar panels too go to sleep. Both the solar panels and the lake appear to be quiet, but there is life in both. The solar panels are generating electricity for our school and that electricity helps to power our lights, our computers, our telephones, our televisions, our microwave ovens, our televisions and the fans that move the heated air around in the winter and the cool air around in the winter.

Electricity may be invisible, but it is one of the most important parts of our community and in many ways it connects us to the outside world in the same way a road or river connects us. The lake has fish and birds and people and plants and trees all depending on it for life. All of us live here because of the lake and tourists come here to look at and fish in and boat on top of the lake. The more I think about it the more I find the solar electricity system at our school on top of that pole reminds me of our wonderful lake. One of the things that I have always wanted each of our students to understand is how we must protect the lake from pollution. Now what I also want them to understand is that the solar panels on the top of that pole help us protect the lake as well as the air we breathe and the land we walk on.

The grant that enabled us to get the solar array came from PG&E. The Foundation for Environmental Education helped us with the installation and NEED helped us with the teaching part of the project. We have a live data collection system that enables anyone to look on line and see how much electricity we are creating for our school at any time of the day.

The PG&E Solar School Program is a nice project for our in-classroom teaching because it gives us a tool for teaching math and science and art and social science. It helps our students understand that it is possible for a small group of kids in Clearlake, California to generate electricity. A multi-billion power plant is not the only way to generate electricity. All we need is a few solar panels on the top of the pole. Of course, to generate all of the electricity we use in Clearlake we will need a lot more panels, but how many and where they might go and how much they will cost is all part of an educational exercise. And for the next generation that we are teaching, it will not be “either fossil or solar” or “nuclear or wind” but rather how to use each fuel source to take advantage of its strengths and to minimize its disadvantages. Those won’t be easy decisions and this project will help our students understand the question a lot more than students who have never seen a solar electricity system work.

So just like we use the lake as a teaching tool to help them understand how powerful this large body of water is and why we must protect it while we use it, the PV panels help us teach them how important it is for us to protect our environment while we live in it and while we use it. I also like it because every day when I go to school I love driving by the lake as it wakes up.  Every day, when I get to school, I love seeing that blue solar array on the top of that pole starting its day as well. And more and more of my friends and family are starting to notice it to. Hopefully, in the near future, we will all be so used to seeing solar panels on every building in Clearlake that people will stop paying any attention to our solar on a stick. But I will notice it. I will always be aware of both the lake and now the solar panels year in and year out doing their jobs like I am doing mine.

It seems that every time you turn around, another device has been created to make our lives easier. Many of these devices use electricity. Sure, an iPod does not require a lot of energy. However, millions of iPods requiring a little energy adds up.

Ten years ago, the United States had around 34 million cell phones in service. Today, more than 200 million!

So, how do these statistics show up on an Energyseeds story? Well, not long ago, I received a handy little solar gadget called the Solio. The Solio is a small, portable and lightweight solar array and battery storage system. Think of it as your own personal “off-grid” power supply. The Solio literature states that an hour of charging in the sun can translate into about 25 minutes of talk time. The nice thing about the Solio, that sets it apart from other chargers, is the onboard lithiom-ion battery. That way, your expensive new mp3 player does not have to be out in the sun to charge. In fact, you can charge up your Solio and carry that juice with you for up to a year!

At first, I was really enjoying setting up the panels and adjusting the angle of the Solio towards the sun by using a pencil. Next, I began to think how I could use it.

A student in my science class suggested that we could power a cell phone with it. Not to be outdone, another student suggested we power a cell phone with solar power - only. I am game to try anything once, so we decided to take my phone “off grid.” We are almost a month into the experiment, and my Motorola has never dipped below 2/3 a charge!

Now let’s crunch some numbers. The average cell phone charger uses about 3 watts. Assuming that conservatively every phone is plugged in for 6 hours a week…

7 hours a week X 3 watts = 21 watts a week

21 X 52 weeks = 1092 watts a year (round to 1kWh).

If we take a simple calculation of $.10/cents a kWh, that translates to Americans are using more than 200,000,000 kWh a year to power their cell phones! That is at least $20 million a year!! Those of you that are energy savvy may know that unless those Americans are unplugging their chargers between charges, the “phantom loads” on those chargers being plugged in can be many times higher than the amount of energy they are using to charge the phones!

Lets assume half of this country’s cell phone chargers are left plugged in. (this is being optimistic)

100 million X 1watt/hour X 24 hours X 365 days =’s 876,000,000 kWh! X $.10 =’s $87 million a year!

Enough about money… By using the Solio, charging my phone is so much more convenient in my backpack. I do not need to worry about forgetting it “on the charger.” Not to mention the safety aspect during a power outage, or out hiking and camping away from modern civilization.

There are parallels between off-setting your carbon footprint of your cell phone, with off-setting your home electrical use with a home solar system. Or in the future, installing a solar-covered car port to plug in your all electric vehicle…

Sure, the immediate payback may not be there. Using the Solio as a real-life example of how to gain the convenience of a cell phone, while off-setting environmental impacts is excellent.

Buying a Solio portable solar charging device: $80
Teaching the world to reduce their carbon footprint: PRICELESS!

Let us introduce you to an energetic, hands-on science and gardening teacher from Oakland, California. Sue Morgan has taught elementary science for fifteen years. At Sequoia and Glenview Elementary, Mrs. Morgan emphasizes a responsible energy future to the adults of tomorrow. As a PG&E solar school teacher, a member of the NEED/ PG&E California Teacher Advisory Board, and recently a Fund for Teachers recipient, Sue has a solid background on the topic of solar. Here is what she submitted about her recent trip to learn about solar in Germany:

I was the proud recipient of a grant from the Fund For Teachers (which has funding for K-12 teachers, within specific urban areas of the US, to go on summer education trips - www.fundforteacher.org). As the Science teacher at Glenview Elementary School, the first PG&E Solar School in Oakland California, I was interested in researching and observing first-hand the major solar electric installations that have gone up in Germany over the past few years. Germany has distanced itself from all other countries in the world in committing and following through on alternative forms of electricity production. I took advantage of my fellowship to visit, in person, four of the largest PV Solar Parks in the world, all of which are located in Germany. Germany’s increase in solar electric installations is quite impressive: 2003, 145MW; 2006, 968MW. An increase of over 600% in 3 years! An astounding 40+ percent is in residential power!

For my fellowship, I chose to also attend the Intersolar. The intersolar is an international conference and trade show to spotlight solar electric designs and innovations which has been held in Freiburg, Germany for the past 6 or 7 years. Having lived in Germany after graduating from college oh so many years ago, I did have to do some pretrip refresher sessions on my German language abilities. In attending the Intersolar 2007 I found it amazing, overwhelming and a bit disjointed for someone from the under-funded education and nonprofit world. But once I got past the costs involved in the exhibitors’ stalls and booths (multiple flat screens for viewing, couches, tables, chairs, the plethora of give aways; pens, pencils, canvas bags, flyers, Frisbees) and got focused on what some of the new technologies are and I was impressed: Solar glass handling much of the power needs on a skyscraper floor; rolled out solar sheets which are less bulky and labor intensive to install on roofs; solar imbedded in roofing materials. There was a lot of solar electric for heating. All of these were being done in many areas of Europe and Asia.

After the three day conference we set off in search of some of the largest solar electric installations in the world. It was inspiring to actually see these PV Solar Parks in situ, knowing that they were producing 5-12 megawatts of power (enough to power 1700-4000 households) and emitting NO greenhouse gases. Just observing the ‘Potential Possibles’ made me feel simply elated. That a promised innovative technology- capable of producing what we all need without present pollution or never-ending toxic waste- has been given an arena to prove itself, is indeed a reality suffused with hope.

Solarpark Pocking… 10MW powering 3500 households, also allowing sheep to continue grazing.

In 2006 alone, Germany installed over 960 MW of electricity. These installations included residential and commercial in large and small spaces. Installations that I visited were located in rural areas not far from major cities, but actually situated on the outskirts of small villages. Many residents were aware of their hidden power plants, but in one case when we were ever so close, I jumped out of the car to ask fine tune directions from a fire fighter and discovered he knew nothing one of the world’s largest solar electric plant no more than 2 miles from his firehouse. Then again, he may not have been from the community… but from a larger city.

All but one of the solar parks were experiencing rain on the day we found ourselves visiting and 3 of the 4 had sheep and/or goats that were grazing on grass growing underneath the panels. None of the parks were far from residential areas so there was little loss of power in transport. Most of the Solarparks were really not part of the visual landscape and only one had signage to let you know you were getting close. These parks were not easy to find, meaning they were not on major motorways. Back roads and small communities are where these parks are found amid rolling fields of grapes, wheat or just plain grazing land.

Sheep sharing the Gut Erlasee field with 12MW of solar power.

I am more convinced than ever that solar can truly be a part of our future electric needs. Since all of the large solar parks are on farm land, it seems as though they have one field for wheat, another for corn and then one for panels which power the area. If they can power 1500-4000 households, that is a lot of power for a field to produce. Yes, they still need to grow food. Hopefully, those in charge will make sure the money does not become the sole reason for solar decision making. It’s that moderation, that balance, that we must strive for instead of profits over people and the planet. Yes, there is another way to look at what makes a community strong and healthy and how we choose to live.

As a science teacher, this fellowship allowed me to see first hand the size and impact these large installations are having. I have seen the panels near the Mojave Desert here in California, whose landscape calls for more solar, but these areas in Germany are part of farmland, rolling hillsides. The weather in mid-late June was overcast with daily bouts of thunderstorms and lots of rain… for perhaps an hour or so followed by sunny skies again. My assumption is that if they are actually producing enough electricity with that kind of weather, we in California should certainly get moving on installing as much solar electric as we can (and with our Solar Initiative 2006 we are)!

Solarpark Muehlhausen Germany 6.3MW powering 2025 households.

I read recently that California is on pace in 2007 to install more solar electric than all California installations in the previous 30 years. So, it does seem as though we are waking up and committing to a future with a future. I have also recently read an op ed piece that touted nuclear energy as the ‘greenhouse gas free’ alternative energy source that will help slow climate change. There was no mention of the pesky toxic, and when we are talking nuclear toxic, we are talking life toxicity for THOUSANDS of years. This is toxic residue that no one in 50 years has figured out how to deal with in a competent way and for good reason. So NUCLEAR to me is a dirty, pardon the pun, secret that has no viability in our future. I think it is irresponsible of politicians and business people to discuss it as something that might have a future.. purely because they might be able to make a better profit on it. Yes, solar is still expensive, but thousands of years of toxicity will be pretty expensive itself and it’s not as though we do not have alternatives to try out with serious financial backing first. Germany provides the real-time now example of one way to attempt this experiment.

As a teacher, I feel it is important for me to inspire my students to push for a solar future, for these children will be paying their own electric bills before we know it. Sharing with the students, their parents and the community at large, my first hand experience of massive solar that works, may just help educate a larger percentage of the Dimond and Glenview Communities on how viable solar really is. If it can happen in Germany in such numbers, it can certainly happen here.

Sue Morgan Glenview Elementary, Oakland CA.

Big things can happen even in small towns when small projects are undertaken by strong leaders…here’s the story of how a couple of solar seeds took root in Illinois…the after school club is not what it used to be as you’ll see…

Story submitted by Katie Kizer. Warren and Apple River, IL

Perceptions of after-school clubs tend to range depending on the nature of the organization, the individuals involved, their respective motivation to encourage productivity, and the personality of the school itself. The traditional understanding of these organizations is that students can join a group of personal interest to them and feel an extended sense of community beyond everyday classes.

One could argue that after-school clubs have a certain substandard reputation in American society when it comes to the “cool” thing for students to do within our public schools. Attempting to demonstrate this point with examples would be counterproductive based on the previously mentioned relativity. I do, however, argue that the face of these clubs has begun to change at the local level, specifically in the Warren Community Schools.

There are also those clubs and organizations which often credit their high turnout and competition among leadership to the pressure to be in good standing on the pages of college applications. What I want to bring to light is that a new generation of card-carrying members of school clubs has surfaced, and it is far from the cliché standard of student council and formal dance committees. In the Warren Community School District #205, an Energy Club has emerged, headed by Pam Phelps, and it has been generating a new breed of student activists.

With the assistance of the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, the Foundation for Environmental Education, Commonwealth Edison, and the National Energy Education and Development project (NEED), two solar installations have been carried out at two different schools in the district.

Warren Elementary has a 1KW Photovoltaic system.

Apple River Middle School uses a 2KW system.

These two installations represent one large project that has changed the approach to learning among the members of both the Energy Club and science classes. According to Gail Heidenreich, Secretary at Apple River Middle School, these solar PV systems have allowed the “kids to learn a lot, but they are also teaching others what they have learned.” At such young ages, it is wonderfully refreshing to see students embracing renewable energy and even taking an interest in teaching others about what they have discovered.

In a district with a general population of less than 2,000 people, all it takes is one movement of individuals, regardless of age, to turn to one another and start a discussion about saving energy. This can affect each and every person in a community, especially in one such as Warren where education is so highly valued.

Once such a discussion has transpired, learning and inspiration to teach others supercedes the formal education process. This is because the message of helping the environment can transcend both grade levels and even school walls into the general community. Warren, Apple River, and the Energy Club that unites these schools are fundamental building blocks of this progression.

A major element of the mission as stated by Warren School District #205 is that they “believe that education is a combined effort of home, school, and community; and that all students have the capability to learn.” These solar school projects epitomize this message based on the positive repercussions that have been relayed by the faculty and community.