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Solar-powered model houses, cars, even cookers that make s'mores-those chocolate and marshmallow delicacies-are just a few ways students at Fertitta Middle School are already applying their knowledge of renewable energy thanks to a new GreenPower installation to be officially unveiled at the school today during a noon ceremony.
The Desert Research Institute, the DRI Research Foundation, Nevada Power Co. and the Clark County School District will activate the third solar electric installation that was made possible through a $40,000 donation by Station Casinos. "We're pleased to support environmentally friendly initiatives like this one that will help the next generation of leaders fully understand the benefits derived from solar energy," said Lesley Pittman, vice president of corporate and government relations for Station Casinos. The GreenPower Program is also underwritten by Nevada Power Co.'s customers who add a few dollars to their monthly electrical bills to develop a fund for non-fossil fuel energy generation projects and education in southern Nevada.
The Fertitta Middle School solar array has 12 five-foot-high by 33-inch-wide panels that produce two kilowatts of power. An accompanying wind generator, powered by a four-foot wingspan, generates another 400 watts. The result is enough power to run a small, efficient home. The school should save approximately $500 a year in energy costs. To make it their own, Fertitta Middle School students held a contest to name the solar/wind system. A $100 savings bond donated by Larry Woodrum of BankWest of Nevada will be presented to the winner.
Teachers have already begun instructing students about renewable energy and held a workshop for students about the GreenPower program and the importance of using renewable energy. Fertitta Middle School students will share their ideas about how to use renewable energy with their own demonstration at the unveiling.
"There's a lot of excitement with regard to naming the solar array as well as the connection being made with math and science and the instruction of alternative energy," said Patricia La Monica, principal of Fertitta Middle School. "Our students are looking forward to making presentations of their solar power projects to our special guests on Tuesday." The equipment was installed by Las Vegas Solar Electric, which set up the other two arrays already located at Hyde Park Middle School and Vanderburg Elementary school. "The GreenPower program has really taken off. In less than a year and a half, three installations have been made in the Clark County School District," said James Kropid, a DRI Foundation trustee who chairs its GreenPower Committee. "The goal of the program is to provide a hands-on learning experience for teachers and students right at their classroom doors with the added benefit of promoting the use and development of renewable energy. Students can watch the needle showing how much power is being generated and understand the technology and its benefits."
A nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on a local, national and international scale. Nearly 500 full- and part-time scientists, technicians and support staff conduct some 150 research projects at DRI annually. More than 85 percent of DRI's annual $37 million operating budget consists of research grants and contracts obtained by its scientists. The balance is received from the state of Nevada for administrative costs.