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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.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
On 07/22/2011 05:48 PM, Ted Moffett wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJ-QB6WBOhD1keUPu3rGmVRubDQGj-k=ZDkZ7vPyFZ6moORYxg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<h2 class="date-header"><span>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?</span></h2>
<h2 class="date-header"><span><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html"><font
size="2">http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html</font></a></span></h2>
<h2 class="date-header"><span>Wednesday, July 13, 2011</span></h2>
<div class="date-posts">
<div class="post-outer">
<div class="post hentry"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
name="2660390995729175296"></a>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">Genesee School gets
energy boost from ARRA grant. </h3>
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">Written By Holly Bowen -
Moscow Daily News. Printed July 2, 2011 </h3>
<p class="post-title entry-title">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.<br>
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.<br>
Genesee School received almost $260,000 of that funding,
Superintendent Wendy Moore said.<br>
Crews from the Spokane-based Power City Electric began
installation of the school's solar panels in May and
finished work this Thursday.<br>
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.<br>
"It's pretty impressive," Moore said Thursday while
looking at the rooftop arrays.<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
He said the modules absorb sunlight and generate
electricity even when it's cloudy, but the best conditions
occur on cold, clear days.<br>
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.<br>
"It's just like looking through the windshield of a car,"
he said about the glass covering the solar cells.<br>
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.<br>
"It's like hooking a bunch of batteries together,"
Middleton said.<br>
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.<br>
"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."<br>
He said the photovoltaic modules are under a 25-year
warranty, while the inverter box is warrantied for 20
years.<br>
Moore said the solar array has already and will continue
to serve as a learning opportunity for Genesee students.<br>
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.<br>
"The physics class worked on it last year," Moore said.<br>
The students made measurements and calculated the number
of watts the school could potentially produce.<br>
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.<br>
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.<br>
He said photovoltaic systems are becoming an increasingly
cheaper alternative energy option because mass production
is driving down the price of components. </p>
<div class="post-footer">
<div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"><span
class="post-author vcard">Posted by <span class="fn">Wendy
Moore</span> </span><span class="post-timestamp">at
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="timestamp-link"
title="permanent link"
href="http://gsd282.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesee-school-gets-energy-boost-from.html"
rel="bookmark"><abbr class="published"
title="2011-07-13T13:18:00-07:00"><font
color="#223344">1:18 PM</font></abbr></a> </span></div>
<div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-2"><span
class="post-labels"></span></div>
<div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3">------------------------------------------</div>
<div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3">Vision2020
Post: Ted Moffett</div>
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