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Crested Butte, Colo., learns from school solar project

SEI Instructor Carol Weis teaches 5th graders how to check the charge on each solar panel before installing them. (Photo by Solar Energy International)

If you want something done right, do it as a team. That was the strategy behind a successful solar education project at Crested Butte Community School in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Solar Energy International teamed up with Crested Butte Office of Resource Efficiency and Gunnison County Electric Association to introduce students of the K-12 school to renewable energy. The result was, "One of the best projects I’ve ever been involved with,” said Soozie Lindbloom, coordinator of SEI’s Solar in the Schools program. “We came into the school and really created a huge spark."

Education inspires outreach

During the Week of Sept. 19–23, SIS provided renewable energy education to the teachers and students of CB Community School. At the end of the week, students helped to install a 1.55-kW photovoltaic system and data monitoring equipment on the school roof.

Each grade received an hour-long, hands-on presentation covering the basics of renewable energy and preparing them for the installation project. Students from the fifth, eighth and 10th grades worked on putting together the rack and array and testing the panels. "At one point we were able to step back and watch the older kids teaching the younger kids," Lindbloom recalled. "The installation was a real highlight of the week."

SEI presented its renewable energy curriculum to teachers at a three-hour workshop. The curriculum covers conservation and energy efficiency as well as renewable resources for elementary, middle school and high school students. It includes grade-appropriate textbooks and technology demonstration kits for classroom use. "They were surprised to find out how versatile the curriculum is and how easily renewable energy can be integrated into other subjects," said Lindbloom.

Learning about renewable energy and then building a working system inspired teachers and students to share what they learned. In October, the school hosted a Solar Energy Fair to demonstrate student-run renewable energy displays to parents, the mayor and town council members.

Different agencies share similar goals

Generating that kind community participation and enthusiasm was exactly what the three agencies had in mind when they undertook the joint effort.

SEI created SIS to develop renewable energy curriculum, conduct teacher workshops and demonstrate solar technology by installing it at schools using the curriculum. The Crested Butte project included all those aspects, and moved to the next level when the school sponsored the energy fair.

The Office of Resource Efficiency works with individuals, businesses, utilities and governments on projects to improve energy and resource consumption and cost. One of ORE's goals is to encourage renewable resource development in Crested Butte and the Gunnison Valley.

To GCEA, the school project was an opportunity to start a discussion about distributed generation. "There are a lot of myths out there about solar power. This was a good way to get the truth out to our customers about solar's capabilities," said GCEA Consumer Services Manager Mark Daily.

Many contribute to program success

That was the goal when the electrical co-op's board of directors allocated $10,000 for a solar education project a few years earlier. Initially, a lack of staff held up the project. The formation of ORE in 2003 gave GCEA the opportunity to implement the education program and to broaden its community involvement in alternative energy issues. GCEA offered the money to the school as a challenge grant, and asked ORE to coordinate fundraising with SEI and the school. "It was one of the first projects the office took on," said Gesa Michel, ORE executive director.

It wasn't hard to find a few organizations that wanted to support solar education. The school's parent-teacher association, a private donor and the Community Office of Resource Efficiency all contributed funding. Many local businesses, including a hardware store, lumber yard, welder and electrician, donated materials and services to the project. "The community response was just amazing," Michel said.

The in-kind donations along with volunteer labor helped to keep the cost of the installation down. "We had volunteers all over the place," Michel noted. "I don't think the school realized how much interest there was going to be."

Lindbloom added that the project turned SEI staff into celebrities for a week. "Crested Butte is a small town, so kids would point me out to their parents and say, 'There goes solar girl!'"

More opportunities for teamwork

In spite of the success of the Solar in the Schools project, its sponsors don't expect it to translate into solar arrays popping up on Crested Butte rooftops, at least in the near future. "Most of the buildings in town are protected as historical landmarks," Michel acknowledged. "ORE is working to make it easier for homeowners to get permits to install solar."

Renewable energy education—and teamwork—will continue, however, thanks to the data monitoring system and the curriculum. Conservation and energy efficiency are key components in SEI's curriculum. "You can't really teach people about renewable energy without telling them that the easiest way to create more power is to use less," said Lindbloom.

That ties in neatly with ORE's agenda, too. "You can make a building more efficient without significantly altering its appearance," said Michel.

Improving home energy efficiency will be the next cooperative venture for GCEA and ORE. The utility is developing a "Healthy Home Assessment" program and ORE will be borrowing or leasing GCEA's blower door to perform home energy audits.

After learning from the SEI curriculum, the children of Crested Butte Community School may be urging their parents to take advantage of the home audit program. When a team is on a winning streak, everybody wants to join.