[Vision2020] Genesee School Installs 50 kilowatt (kW) Photovoltaic System

[Paul Rumelhart]

Personally. I think it's a great idea.  Anything that helps make us less 
dependent as a country on fossil fuels is a good thing.  It's 
unrealistic to think that solar photovoltaics will remove the complete 
burden, but it can't hurt.  Someday, maybe, they will become more efficient.

Paul

On 07/22/2011 05:48 PM, Ted Moffett wrote:
>
>
>     I wonder if any tea party loyalists against federal liberal tax
>     and spend Obama policies are going to condemn this Genesee school
>     solar array as a waste of tax dollars?
>
>
>     http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html
>
>
>     Wednesday, July 13, 2011
>
>
>       Genesee School gets energy boost from ARRA grant.
>
>
>       Written By Holly Bowen - Moscow Daily News. Printed July 2, 2011
>
> The solar panels are up, the switches have been turned on and now 
> Genesee School is generating its own electricity thanks to a grant 
> from the Idaho Office of Energy Resources.
> Genesee Joint School District officials learned in January their 
> school was one of only nine across the state to receive part of the 
> $2.75 million worth of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds 
> set aside by the state energy office for the installation of solar 
> panels at public K-12 schools.
> Genesee School received almost $260,000 of that funding, 
> Superintendent Wendy Moore said.
> Crews from the Spokane-based Power City Electric began installation of 
> the school's solar panels in May and finished work this Thursday.
> Rows of black photovoltaic modules - 192 in total - now cover the 
> white roof of the school's gymnasium and face south to absorb as much 
> sunlight as possible.
> "It's pretty impressive," Moore said Thursday while looking at the 
> rooftop arrays.
> Jeff Middleton, project manager with Power City Electric, said the 50 
> kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic system will supplement the school's energy 
> supply, meaning the school district will now pay less on its monthly 
> power bill.
> The amount of energy generated by the system varies depending on 
> temperature and the amount of sunlight, he said, making it difficult 
> to estimate just how much the school will end up saving.
> He said the modules absorb sunlight and generate electricity even when 
> it's cloudy, but the best conditions occur on cold, clear days.
> The solar panels require relatively little maintenance - Middleton 
> said an engineer determined the modules can handle the winter snow 
> load, and it's normal to clean the arrays a couple times a year.
> "It's just like looking through the windshield of a car," he said 
> about the glass covering the solar cells.
> The direct current (DC) power generated by the modules travels by wire 
> inside conduit to an inverter box that transforms it into alternating 
> current (AC) electricity to be used by the school.
> "It's like hooking a bunch of batteries together," Middleton said.
> He said people originally tried to store solar power in batteries, but 
> it's much more cost-effective to convert and use the energy right away.
> "In general, you get whatever you can get, invert it to AC and then 
> use it while you have it," he said. "Somebody'll use it somewhere. If 
> you don't use it, it will go back on the grid."
> He said the photovoltaic modules are under a 25-year warranty, while 
> the inverter box is warrantied for 20 years.
> Moore said the solar array has already and will continue to serve as a 
> learning opportunity for Genesee students.
> She said science teacher Jen Pollard wrote the grant with help from 
> maintenance supervisor Todd Dahmen. Pollard also involved her students 
> in the planning process.
> "The physics class worked on it last year," Moore said.
> The students made measurements and calculated the number of watts the 
> school could potentially produce.
> She said meters on the photovoltaic system are connected to the 
> school's computer network, so students and teachers will be able to 
> monitor the amount of power their school is generating.
> Middleton said because the project was funded by federal stimulus 
> dollars, the vast majority of the components used had to be 
> manufactured in the United States. He said many of the parts for 
> Genesee School's solar array were made in Oregon.
> He said photovoltaic systems are becoming an increasingly cheaper 
> alternative energy option because mass production is driving down the 
> price of components.
>
> Posted by Wendy Moore at 1:18 PM 
> <http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html> 
>
> ------------------------------------------
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>
>
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