October is energy awareness month, and as major buyers of electricity, schools have a lot to gain from going solar. Earlier this month, as part of the national Green Apple Day of Service, Repower Our Schools coalition partners including Greenpeace and Renewable Energy Transitions Initiative teamed up with students in Charlotte, NC from Garinger High School, Providence High School and Central Piedmont Community College to do a solar site assessment at Garinger High School.
Repower Our Schools is an effort to transition school systems in Charlotte and Durham to run on 100 percent renewable electricity. This activity was one of several energy-related activities that members of the Repower Our Schools coalition are coordinating to provide hands-on learning opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy to enhance Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) learning.
For this activity, members from the Sustainable Technologies Department at Central Piedmont Community College came to Garinger High school to lead an interactive discussion on renewable energy and practical considerations for installing solar panels, before leading the group outside to set up technical instruments called Solar Pathfinders that gather site-specific shading data.
The data gathered from the activity will be used to help the high school students design small, mock solar systems for their school as part of their October Energy Unit.
Check out the photos below for highlights from the event.
Jesus Gonzalez from CPCC explains technical considerations for solar system design.
Students use a Solar Pathfinder to examine site-specific shading.
High school students set up the solar pathfinder at a southern portion of the school–south-facing systems are best-suited to capture the sun’s rays.
DeAndrea Salvador from Renewable Energy Transitions Initiative discusses the growing job market for the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in this day of solar learning.
Photos by Hanna Mitchell and Mario Delgado
