Second GreenPower Project to be Unveiled at Hyde Park Middle School September 23rd
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| Las Vegas Solar Electric Manager David Gulley installs a photovoltaic panel at Hyde Park Middle School. High Resolution File of above image available at: http://news.dri.edu/highresimg/davelvsolar4.jpg |
The Desert Research Institute, The DRI Research Foundation, Nevada Power Company, and the Clark County School District unveiled the second solar electric installation in DRI’s GreenPower Program at Hyde Park Middle School today. 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 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 objectives 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,” said 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 said 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. “This array and wind turbine gives our middle schoolers a firsthand knowledge of alternative solar energy sources.
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 noted that 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,” said 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,” said Kropid, “and we are looking forward to helping other schools establish their own systems.”
