Archive for Sunday, January 28, 2007
Solar project to highlight alternative power
January 28, 2007
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Southwest Junior High School will soon plug into the sun to teach students about alternative energy.
Sometime in April, solar panels that generate small amounts of electricity will be installed in a visible location at the school as part of a Solar 4R Schools national renewable energy demonstration project.
"We will actually be producing renewable energy," said Sarah Hill-Nelson, a Lawrence resident involved in the project.
A key part of the project is a Web-based interactive kiosk that will show students how much electricity is being generated and how the solar panels are reducing greenhouse gases.
"It's a technological wonder," said Trish Bransky, Southwest's principal.
No cost to district
The $18,000 to $22,000 project is being funded partly by a $7,000 grant from the Douglas County Community Foundation's Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund.
The rest of the funding will come through proceeds from a Lawrence-based "green tag product" set up by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a nonprofit foundation based in Portland, Ore.
Businesses, organizations or individuals buy "green tags" from BEF for alternative forms of electric energy, which reduces the amount of conventional energy needed to meet demand.
Southwest Junior High student Sudhanshu Manda, 12, left, visits with lab supervisor David Frye recently during recess. The school is planning to install solar panels as part of a national enterprise by Solar 4R Schools.
BEF has taken some of its proceeds from the sale of green tags around the country to fund about 35 Solar 4R Schools projects.
BEF set up a green tag product in Lawrence last year called Zephyr Energy.
Hill-Nelson, a representative of BEF, said Zephyr Energy consists of 50 percent hydroelectric power from the Bowersock Mills and Power Co., which her family operates along the Kansas River.
The remaining 50 percent comes from wind energy generated by the Gray County Montezuma Wind Farm in southwest Kansas.
The city of Lawrence and 13 firms and organizations have purchased Zephyr Energy green tags, Hill-Nelson said.
The solar project at Southwest would be the first reinvestment in the city of Lawrence of the proceeds from the local green tags, she said.
Highly visible
"One of the things that BEF always tries to do is make the solar panels very visible," Hill-Nelson said.
The idea is to bring panels into the students' daily consciousness, she said.
Bransky and Hill-Nelson will work with architects Gould Evans Associates to find the best location for the panels and the kiosk that will monitor the power generated and used.
Randy Remer, a painter for A.T. Switzer Co. in Kansas City, Mo., works on the new addition at Southwest Junior High Schol. A planned solar collector may be installed in the area to the right, but the final placement for the solar array has to be designed by an engineering staff.
Students will be able to tell how much power the system is producing at different times of the day and on cloudy days, she said.
Two light bulbs
The solar system to be installed at Southwest would produce only 1.2 kilowatts of power - which isn't much, said Aron Cromwell, a regional expert on solar electricity who operates Cromwell Environmental in Kansas City, Mo.
Cromwell, who will install the system, said it will generate an average of about 5 kilowatt hours of power a day. That's enough to run two 100-watt bulbs for 24 hours a day, he said.
"The project is not intended to power the school by any stretch of the imagination," Cromwell said. "The intention is more educational."
Michele Hirschhorn, business development and communications for BEF, said the beauty of the system is the real-time data it gives students.
"It allows them to see not only what their school is generating but what other schools across the country are generating," Hirschhorn said.
Generating enthusiasm
Bransky got the go-ahead for the project last week from Lawrence's school board.
The project will allow the school to be able to teach about alternative energy production to seventh-grade earth science and eighth-grade physical science.
And the data generated can be used in math classes to make charts and graphs comparing similar Solar 4R Schools projects around the country, she said.
Bransky said there were other curriculum applications as well. For example, communications students can talk to adults about the project during parent-teacher conference nights.
"BEF found the education was as much for the adults in the community as much as for the students," Hill-Nelson said. "The adults learn as much or more than the students do. A lot of Americans don't know how the power grid works - they just flip on the switch. It's an education for everyone."
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28 January 2007
at 7 a.m.
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merrill (Anonymous) says…
http://www.b-e-f.org/GreenTags/
28 January 2007
at 7:24 a.m.
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ASBESTOS (Anonymous) says…
$7000 to run 2 light bulbs? THis is not a “feasibility” demonstration, it is an attempt at “endoctrination”. That is bad in a school where we are trying to educate students to think.
I am all for alternative forms of energy, as I did a paper on college, about a decade and a half ago, about making a solar panel farm, just like they are with the wind turbines now. But this is just silly. That $7000 would be better spent on something of substance rather than something so impotent as this. This is what I call “tourist” science. Education by “environmental bling”, but no environmental “bang”
THis is pathetic, …….. unless those that are pushing this thing sell ….. solar photovoltaic panels. This is exactly what it is, advertisment in the school, nothing more.
28 January 2007
at 8:16 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
How about a 1.2 kilowatt nukyalar reactor at SW Junior High instead, asbestos? That'd probably only run a few million, plus or minus, and the ensuing vacation of the school and surrounding neighborhood would prove to the students just how “safe” nukyalar energy is.
28 January 2007
at 10:46 a.m.
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chic (Anonymous) says…
Hmmm… What do you suppose the first electric light bulb that Edison invented would “cost” in 2006 dollars? What did your first tv, calculator, vcr, dvd player cost? Would you pay (expect to pay) that now?
28 January 2007
at 11:02 a.m.
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Newell_Post (Anonymous) says…
I've been involved in solar energy stuff as a consultant off-and-on since the 1970s and, unfortunately, it has never really made economic sense when you factor in the cost of capital and the real-world maintenance costs which are substantial.
People who claim to save money on solar often rely heavily on subsidies of various kinds.
The most economical thing today is to build your building in a “passive energy” manner so it naturally requires as little energy as possible, do the common sense stuff, and buy plain old electricity from the plain old utility. I wish that were not the case, and it could change in the future, but that's the way it is today.
28 January 2007
at 11:06 a.m.
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windy (Anonymous) says…
It cost more then $7,000, who knows what Lawrence has paid for their, 'green tags'. Renewables are fine, but look at all the little projects this group has going and the cost compared to the kwh.
Why don't these groups start looking at different problems,like the rain forest? May be harvasting all the trees and the population growth may have a bigger impact no the GHG then the power industry
28 January 2007
at 11:15 a.m.
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just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (Anonymous) says…
“People who claim to save money on solar often rely heavily on subsidies of various kinds.”
The same can be said about any power-generating technology.
It's quite possible to use solar to live completely off the grid, without any subsidies whatsoever. However, it also requires using the passive solar techniques Newell Post mentioned, and adopting a lifestyle that doesn't require massive amounts of electricity, but that doesn't mean you have to live a third-world lifestyle.
28 January 2007
at 2:10 p.m.
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compmd (Anonymous) says…
I don't know about you, but how many people run two 100W light bulbs non-stop, 24-hours a day? That consumes a lot of power. Comparably, you could run a portable or laptop computer (at full power) and draw no more than 70W. Have a datacenter that you need to ensure doesn't go down? There are high-performance servers that draw 180W from a well known manufacturer. Solar is a viable alternative, but you have to make changes in your own energy usage habits in order to get any benefit.
28 January 2007
at 3:27 p.m.
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Bowhunter99 (Anonymous) says…
not $7,000… 18,000 to $22,000… for two lightbulbs… How about you don't use the two lightbulbs???
28 January 2007
at 5:54 p.m.
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budwhysir (Anonymous) says…
Why not put up a wind farm at the school. Then we wouldnt have to worry about cloudy days. It would be a shame to close school if these two light bulbs didnt work
28 January 2007
at 7:44 p.m.
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merrill (Anonymous) says…
Better yet build solar panels on the roof top as well as a few more in some open space to completely supply the school.
Likely Westar would be buying back some and providing relief to the public school budget…why not?
28 January 2007
at 7:56 p.m.
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home_perfromance_works (Anonymous) says…
Replace those two 100 watt incandescent bulbs (100 year old technology) with 13 CFLs and you can light up the classroom and hall. Or better yet use the 18-22k to make the school more energy efficient by using dull and boring insulation and caulk, saving the taxpayers money every year.
28 January 2007
at 8:04 p.m.
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Newell_Post (Anonymous) says…
The ironic thing about subsidies for solar power is that many of them come from the utilities which, in turn, definitely receive a variety of public subsidies, both directly and indirectly.
I agree that wind power is an important part of the mix in the coming years. But the largest wind unit commonly available right now is 2MW. (I think. Haven't checked on this in a while.) By comparison, a large coal unit or a nuclear unit is roughly 1,000 MW.
Conservation is a very important part of the process and it is indeed possible to live “off the grid” using solar, wind, and other resources. But that requires a level of dedication that only a few people are really up to at the moment.
29 January 2007
at 10:42 a.m.
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merrill (Anonymous) says…
The bottom line is the students are becoming involved in a project of substance that could be helpful to them as future homeowners.