At the end of May, the Repower Our Schools coalition wrapped up a Charlotte, North Carolina schools tour with the Rolling Sunlight, a solar power demonstration truck. The truck went to ten schools and three public events in Charlotte, giving students and community members a hands-on experience with solar energy.
Check out the photos below for highlights from the Charlotte tour:
The Rolling Sunlight was designed to be both a carbon neutral vehicle and mobile power plant. The truck features a biodiesel engine and a 2.4Kw solar array.
For the tour, we made solar powered popcorn using energy from the panels.
After sunlight hits the panels on the truck, a stream of electrons flows out of the panels in the form of direct current (DC) energy. There is a system of batteries and inverters inside the truck that transform the DC energy to alternating current (AC) energy and stores the power.
Prior to the truck stop at Myers Park High School, students gave presentations to teach their peers about solar energy.
The truck had a chalkboard on the back for students to imagine what their school would look like with renewable energy.
Many thanks to all of the volunteers, coalition partners, students, parents, and teachers who made the tour possible!
