Marshall's new solar panels supply power, teaching aid

By Venice Buhain | The Olympian • Published October 30, 2008

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OLYMPIA – New solar panels at Marshall Middle School are generating electricity from sunlight and interest from students.

Puget Sound Energy recently installed the solar panels on the roof of the west side school and put an information kiosk in the library as part of the Solar 4 R Schools project. Washington Middle School joined the program last year. More than 40 schools nationwide, mostly in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, are part of the program.

The solar photovoltaic system and touch-screen kiosk for students to access the data are worth about $25,000.

Marshall eighth-grade science teacher Chris Cunningham said there are different aspects to energy creation that students can study in math and science.

"Energy can be studied from many different perspectives," he said.

"The kids are learning about how to be smart consumers of electricity. We do a unit on our own home usage patterns: What are some of the habits we have that use a lot of energy," he said.

For eighth-graders, energy and electricity also are important parts of physical science. Information gathered from the solar panels also touch upon ecology and learning how to make choices that are environmentally friendlier. The information also is useful in math, where students practice conversions between different units of energy, Cunningham said.

Puget Sound Energy spokesman Andy Wappler said Cunningham made a good case that the solar panels would fit into science and other lessons at Marshall and that it would benefit Olympia to have students on the west side served by the program.

"He was so enthusiastic and so committed to making this a great thing for the kids, it was an easy choice for us to install it at another Olympia school," he said.

The panels generate 1.1 kilowatts of electricity, Wappler said.

"Eleven-hundred watts — that can run a computer, a television and a couple of lamps, on an optimum day," Wappler said. "On a cloudier day, the amount of energy to use a PC. It's not enough energy to run the school, but it's enough for the students to see that in the real world, this can mean something if more of us do it."

All the information is available on the Internet and also on a kiosk in the school library, Cunningham said.

"Every time I walk by the library, kids are there and exploring what's on the kiosk."

The panels from all the schools participating in the program report to a Web site, www.solar4rschools.org, where students can compare measurements with other schools.

Cunningham said students at Marshall were interested in comparing their panels with Washington's across town.

The solar electricity-generating systems were two of more than 30 that are connected to the Puget Sound Energy grid in Thurston County, according to the company.

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.