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Readin’,
Writin’, and Renewable Energy
GreenPower
Lights up Hyde Park Middle School in Las Vegas
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Plugged into the sun.
David Gulley, manager of Las Vegas Solar Electric, installs
the final panel for the Hyde Park Middle School’s photovoltaic
array. (Photo by John Doherty) |
As the fall school semester
got underway in September, the DRI Research Foundation plugged in
its second GreenPower solar electrical array and a wind turbine
generator to bring fossil fuel-free power to Hyde Park Middle School
in Las Vegas. Accompanying the new hardware was an enhanced renewable
energy education program designed to make the school’s students
more aware of the potential for renewable energy resources in southern
Nevada.
GreenPower is a program
underwritten by Nevada Power Company’s customers who add a
few dollars to their monthly electrical bill to develop a fund for
non-fossil fuel energy generation projects and education in southern
Nevada. Nevada Power transferred the GreenPower program to the DRI
Research Foundation four years ago, along with DayStar One, a 16kW
solar-electric installation at DRI’s Southern Nevada Science
Center. The photoelectric array at DRI generates up to 10 percent
of the electrical requirements for the Institute’s Las Vegas
office and laboratory building. Since the transfer, all contributed
funds are transferred to the DRI Research Foundation, which administers
the program for Nevada Power.
The Hyde Park project
represents the Foundation’s programmatic emphasis on K-12
education. “This project fulfills the GreenPower objective
of producing more electricity in southern Nevada without using fossil
fuels and, additionally, brings an example of practical, environmentally
friendly, power resources right into the classrooms,” says
James Kropid, a DRI Foundation trustee who chairs its GreenPower
Committee. “We believe these students are the generation that
will see the wide scale adoption of renewable energy as a substantial
source of power, and we think it’s important for them to become
familiar with the technology as early as possible.”
The Hyde Park solar array
has 12 five-foot-high by 33-inch-wide panels which produce a total
of two kilowatts of power. The accompanying wind turbine, powered
by a four-foot wingspan, generates another 400 watts. The result
is about enough power to run a small, efficient home. In Hyde Park’s
case, the school should save approximately $500 a year in energy
costs.
Hyde Park Vice Principal
Jeri Plunkett says the GreenPower installation has captured the
imagination of many students and instilled student pride that Hyde
Park is “doing something” about the energy and environmental
challenges facing the United States. “The array and wind turbine
give our middle schoolers a firsthand knowledge of alternative solar
energy sources.
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From the sun to the classroom.
Tracy Viscosi, chairperson of Hyde Park Middle School’s
Science Department, shows DRI GreenPower coordinator Hilary
Crowley how the readouts of power production from the school’s
solar and wind generation will be visible in the classroom.
(Photo by John Doherty) |
To make it their own,
Hyde Park’s students even held a contest to name the solar/wind
system, with a savings bond donated by Larry Woodrum of BankWest
of Nevada going to the winning entry. Walking off with the bond
and naming rights was eighth grader Scott McKnight, whose entry
of “Roof Top Ray” will be placed on a sign describing
the system.
To jump start the educational
program for the project, DRI sent three of Hyde Park’s science
teachers to a special renewable energy course last June, and those
teachers and others on Hyde Park’s science faculty are combining
their knowledge to enhance the school’s science curriculum.
Hyde Park Science Department
Chairperson Tracy L. Viscosi notes the array will reinforce to students
how energy is transferred into or out of a system, how energy readily
changes form, and how energy is converted from one form to another.
Lessons will focus on the use of natural resources, energy conservation,
and alternative energy sources.
“This also gives
students the opportunity to collect data from the solar array,”
says Viscosi. “Our students will have a chance to analyze
the collected data and cross reference the results to the weather
station data that we currently have at Hyde Park. This will allow
them to see the practical relationship between weather and solar
energy collection.”
The equipment was installed
by Las Vegas Solar Electric, which donated a significant part of
the costs as a learning experience to fine tune the process for
future GreenPower sites. In addition to Nevada Power Company customers,
the other major supporters were Courtney Millburn of Elemental Engineering
Company, David Gulley of Las Vegas Solar Electric LLC, and Robert
Balzar of Nevada Power Company.
With the Hyde Park system
up and running, the hope is that other similar projects will follow.
“In fact, Hyde Park is a ‘template,’ if you will,”
says Kropid, “and we are looking forward to helping other
schools establish their own systems.”
–John Doherty
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