Lincoln

Lincoln Middle School
Alameda, California

Lincoln Middle School students Ashton Barry (left) and Laura Baptista (right), with their science teacher Bill Dodge, display a solar photovoltaic panel. The school’s new solar photovoltaic system, installed with a grant from Alameda Power & Telecom, is in the background.

Solar Data Monitor:

A solar power system hoisted on to a Lincoln Middle School building Friday will produce enough juice to power half a home or keep eight computers running at once. The $15,000 system was a gift from the city’s utility, Alameda Power & Telecom, which raised part of the money by asking customers to donate a penny for every kilowatt-hour they use.

“It’s a sizable investment, and I want to see it used as a teaching tool,” said Meredith Owens, the utility’s energy management program director.

The system’s purpose is threefold: save Mother Earth by using renewable resources, collect data about how to eventually use solar power at all district schools, and teach kids.

“I’m not sure exactly how it works,” said eighth-grader Marissa Traglio, 14, “But I hope to fully understand it before I graduate. It’s nice for a change to have a first happening at Lincoln in Alameda. Not everyone has this, but hopefully everyone can learn about it as the years go by.”

That’s what the energy gurus hope as well.

“I want (the students) to understand about renewable energy and how it works,” Owens said. “I want them to understand you can make electricity without fossil fuels, that you can make electricity by using the sun.”

Students will collect data about weather influences the system and chart its productivity. They will compare notes with other California students via the internet through Solar Schoolhouse, a program developed by Martinez-based nonprofit The Rahus Institute.

“The kids will study the data themselves,” said Lincoln Principal Keith Nomura. “This will give them the opportunity to do practical applications.”

Another set of students already learned about practical applications this week. Under a unique partnership, 21 women who were completing a photovoltaic (solar) design and installation workshop helped install the Lincoln system. The workshop was put on by Solar Energy International, a Colorado nonprofit that teaches about renewable energy.

“What we are doing is educational, but to install a system on an educational facility is going to have a deeper impact on the future,” said Justine Sanchez, a workshop instructor.

Lincoln is the first school in Alameda to get a solar system, although Alameda Power & Telecom in 1998 installed a more powerful system at its West End headquarters. Utility officials say it’s all part of their energy management plan, which uses renewable resources to generate 80 percent of Alameda’s power.