Published: May 21, 2008 11:52 pm      

Solar saving

Panels at Russell ATC will save big bucks in district

RUSSELL — All together, the six solar panels on a workbench at the Russell Area Technology Center are about as big as a couple of sheets of plywood.

But once they’re installed on the roof of an outbuilding, they’ll start saving money for the Russell School District.

Together with a wind turbine students installed a year ago, the panels are expected to cut about $6,000 per year from district electricity bills, said Doug Keaton, a teacher at the school.

The wind and solar systems will be wired into the school’s electrical system and will supply enough juice to light the ATC building, he said. In terms more familiar to homeowners, it will be enough electricity to power a 1,000-square-foot house.

The solar arrays — two sets of three panels each — should be ready to install Monday and the entire system should be up and running by Sept. 1.

Keaton’s records show that in the year since the wind turbine was installed, the breeze has blown briskly enough to generate usable electricity on 320 days.

The combined solar and wind project is generating one thing that is even more important than electricity. That is interest in alternative energy careers, Keaton believes. “These guys are being trained for the green jobs of the future,” he said.

“This has helped me choose my career path,” said senior Shawn Stephens, who plans to attend Shawnee State University and become an environmental engineer. He’s impressed by what he has learned about the cleanliness and cost effectiveness of solar and wind energy.

Also impressive, said junior Jaren Bowen, is that alternative energy systems are practical for home applications.

“I didn’t think it would work on a small scale,” he said. “I thought it would have to be like the huge wind farms. But it’s really cost-effective.”

Keaton plans to meet at Russell with educators from area technology centers in several other Kentucky counties to walk them through his energy science program. His guests will then launch similar programs in their schools.

He has been collaborating with physics and science teachers at Russell High School and this fall will also collaborate with math teacher Carol Stephens as well.

Among other things, Stephens said, she will teach trigonometry, useful in such technical applications as designing and building wind turbines.

“I can associate the math with the practical applications,” she said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.