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California School Sees Benefits of Solar Energy

By Graham Jesmer, Staff Writer
May 30, 2008 | 8 Comments

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California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] California is home to some of the best solar resources in the U.S., a fact not lost on its residents and policy makers when it comes to adopting and supporting solar energy. One application for solar that is becoming increasingly popular in California is using photovoltaics to power schools.

"We installed our first solar array in 2003 and now any new building projects at the school require renewable energy and green elements. It's a way we can teach students about sustaiability and alternative energy."

-- Kevin Brookhouser, Communications Director, York School

Schools both private and public in San Francisco, Oakland, Pleasanton, Lemon Grove and Monterey have all realized the benefits of solar solar energy. One such project was put up at York School in Monterey, California in 2007. The 37.5-kilowatt (kW) system was installed by Blueline Power. The project was financed by Solar Power Partners (SPP) through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which brought down the upfront costs of the system for the school.

“Our claim to fame is to find those people who want to stand out in their particular industry or community. Their solar and renewable energy systems serve as models for people to look and say, 'maybe I could do something like that',” said Ed Bless, Business Manager of Blueline Power.

According to Kevin Brookhouser, York School's Communications Director, to celebrate earth day the students at York made the decision to use as little energy as possible. The result was that for that day the school's meter ran backwards as the solar system produced more than was consumed. Brookhouser said the solar system was installed for more than just a lower electric bill for the school.

“York has a philosophical commitment to building green,” Brookhouser said. “I think the debate is over and that we need to find solutions to our energy problems and solar is one of those solutions. We installed our first solar array in 2003 and now any new building projects at the school require renewable energy and green elements. It's a way we can teach students about sustainability and alternative energy.”

The York School solar system consists of 195 Evergreen Solar modules mounted on the roof of the school's library. The system is projected to produce approximately 49.7 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity per year and provide close to half of the power consumed by the school. So far in 2008 the system has produced 25.48 MWh of power for the school. York is also the first school in Monterey county to be designated an official “Green Business” by the Monterey County Green Business Program.

“The system has been performing flawlessly, it's been doing really well. Distributed generation systems like this are important to the solar industry.” Bless said.

To see the system and to get the perspective of some of York's students, play the video below.

Video courtesy Blueline Power. Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) student Naomi Arnold documented the project at the York School. MIIS graduate Nico Johnston is part of Blueline Power.

Solar Energy

8 Reader Comments

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1 of 8

james-levis-40460

May 30, 2008

Great project! This is the way to make change, by influencing the next generation...... we need more of this.

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peter-bardaglio-147869

June 2, 2008

We also need to transform the education our K-12 students receive so they are better prepared to build a more sustainable future. See http://www.newrootsschool.org for the launching of a secondary school in Ithaca, NY that integrates sustainability into the curriculum. New Roots School is a project of the EcoVillage at Ithaca Center for Sustainability Education. You can find out more about the Center for Sustainability Education at http://www.senecaees.com/Sustainability_Education.

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john-dolan-71937

June 4, 2008

Take a look at the installer in the Calif School story picture. He is a very long way from the ground, leaning way over and not wearing a harness.

Must be a management guy.

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barrett-dunn-147180

June 4, 2008

Implementing these systems at schools is so important, because it teaches students about the practice and use of sustainable energy. I am so happy to see schools start to take the initiative and install these systems. Regarding the community of Lemon Grove, I would look into the Center for Sustianable Energy's, California Solar Initiative. That program caters to the area covered by SDG&E and I believe they offer incentives to government and non-profits that install a PV or SHW system.

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tom-comeau-12459

June 4, 2008

Glad to see this interest by the school systems--I can't think of a more appropriate venue to get the message across to the public. Was particularly happy to see mention of my own small community of Lemon Grove, Ca. with three schools having their own solar arrays--now if I could just get the municipality to consider installing arrays on their buildings I'd be even happier.
The City Council cites prohibitive up front costs as the impediment--so why aren't municipalities being offered similar financial incentives as the schools?

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thomas-mayrand-14505

June 4, 2008

It's great they are putting the system in where it will impact the most. On education. Other things school buildings should take advantage of is free lighting, by incorporating daylighting schemes, and the use of passive solar heat.
Since most school is held during the day, the use of these passive systems would easily outsave any other mechanical system. Solar hot water can be used for heat and hot water for bathrooms. The cost of SHW is also much cheaper and less maintenence than PV and would save a lot more money in colder climate schools.
I've seen too many new schools built for aestetics rather than function. Unfortunatly the decision on their design is usually made by local politicians, whose buddy gets the contract, rather than qualified people.

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john-a-valldejuli-146189

June 4, 2008

We have to have decision-makers think out of the box. The financing makes it a no brainer as traditional electric rates will no doubt keep going up!

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ken-calman-64012

June 7, 2008

The video sends a very clear message of.... oh, wait. What WAS the message of that video?

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Graham Jesmer

About: I am currently a second year Law Student at Vermont Law School where I work as a Research Associate at the Institute for Energy and the Environment writing and ... more »