Elmira High power project shines on.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

ELMIRA - Ribbon-cutting ceremonies usually are staged for the opening of big things - museums, libraries, performance halls.

But at Elmira High School, officials recently crowded into a narrow hallway to celebrate and photograph what resembled an electrical panel in the wall.

If it hadn't been raining, they would have stood outside looking up at the school's newest addition, a set of solar cells mounted on the roof of a covered walkway.

It may not look like much, but the concept is big.

The cells, which collect energy from sunlight and convert it into electricity, are part of a new program being developed at Elmira High to teach students about solar power and the scientific principles involved. The goal is to demystify solar power and spark greater interest in the benefits of renewable energy, and maybe even inspire some students to pursue careers in photovoltaics or related fields.

Young people today are more attuned to recycling, renewable energy and sustainability, those involved with the program said.

"They are the ones that will be doing it in the future - and actually have the energy to do it," said Frank Vignola, director of the University of Oregon Solar Radiation Monitoring Laboratory and co-author of a high school science curriculum for solar education.

The Elmira High program is sponsored by Emerald People's Utility District with assistance from the Bonneville Power Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy's Million Solar Roofs Initiative and the UO solar lab.

"We believe technologies such as this system are the energy wave of the future," said Joe Savage, residential program lead for EPUD. "And being the wave of the future, there's no better place for them to be than in our local public schools."

The $7,100 photovoltaic system at Elmira, purchased by EPUD with help from the BPA, can generate up to 600 watts of electricity, or roughly enough to power three personal computers with monitors and printers. The small solar source is hooked into the power grid, although it won't produce enough electricity to feed back into the grid and spin the school's meter backward, like some photovoltaic systems can.

The BPA is working with 15 schools in the Northwest to establish these solar systems, and Elmira High is the first to have its system installed. But it's not the first local school to delve into solar education.

A 2,400-watt solar array was installed in May 2000 at Willamette High School in cooperation with the Eugene Water & Electric Board. Willamette also has a 1,000-watt solar system mounted on mobile trailer. EWEB now is working with Kennedy Middle School in Eugene to install the same 600-watt system as Elmira High has.

The technology will spread to more rural areas, too. EPUD plans to introduce solar systems in four more schools in its service area over the next four years, starting with Cottage Grove High School this year and continuing with Lowell, Peasant Hill and Mohawk high schools.

At Elmira High, the electricity will be consumed at the school - more when it's sunny, less when it's cloudy - and slightly offset what it buys from EPUD. The total annual output will amount to 1,000 kilowatts, saving the school about $70 a year in power costs.

The chief benefit is the educational opportunity. The system will augment Elmira's career-oriented, computer-based class that helps the school fulfill its requirements for the Certificate of Initial Mastery.

The CAM, part of Oregon's education reform effort, requires students to demonstrate specialized knowledge and skills in a particular career area. A few schools offer them now, and all schools must by the 2004-05 school year.

The school's CAM survey class, which all freshmen must take, already includes a section on solar and other renewable energy technologies using a teaching program called Scantek.

Some of the other 12 Scantek stations in the class teach digital photography, flight simulation, construction technology, graphics and animation, basic electricity and weather monitoring using a working weather station mounted on the classroom roof.

At the alternative energy station, freshmen Claire Faust and Heather Bell recently demonstrated one solar application using a toy car assembled from Lego-like parts.

They set up a small solar panel in front of an artificial light source, generating electricity that powered the vehicle across a table top.

By pulling the light source farther from the panel, they could watch the reduced energy slow the car's momentum. The lesson also explains how friction between the car's tires and the surface help it move but decreases the amount of energy available for movement.

The new solar array atop Elmira High will allow the school to develop a whole station devoted just to solar technology, business teacher Forrest Cooper said.

Students eventually will be able to monitor how much power the rooftop cells produce in 15-minute intervals, and they even may be able to see how their school's output compares to the power produced at schools elsewhere in the Northwest.

The school plans to use the high school solar curriculum written by the UO's Vignola, a senior research associate, and South Eugene High School science teachers John Hocken, now retired, and Gary Grace.

Vignola formed the basics for the science involved, while Hocken and Grace wrote the lesson plans.

The curriculum - it's on the Internet at solardat.uoregon.edu/LessonPlans.html - was developed with a $1,500 grant from the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, a campaign spearheaded by utilities, the solar industry and other groups to promote solar on roofs and remove barriers to its use.

"This is to get students familiar with what a solar cell is, the amount of electricity it produces, and to just understand renewable energy," said Vignola, adding that two-thirds of Oregon gets as much or more "direct-beam solar radiation" than Florida.

The lessons first take students through the basic physics and chemistry behind the operation of a solar cell, then explain how solar electric arrays work, including how modules are put together to generate the desired voltage and current.

In the final lesson, students learn about variables related to the effectiveness of solar arrays in generating power.

They will learn to use a software tool to calculate the output of arrays, factoring in weather and other conditions specific to location.

Principal Gene Morgan said he's particularly enthused about the partnership that made the program possible.

"This is clearly a demonstration of how the industry, K-12 education and the university can work together to provide opportunities for our kids," Morgan said.

CAPTION(S):

Heather Bell (left) and Claire Faust drive a solar-powered Lego vehicle at Elmira High School.