Press Contact:
Kathryn M. Reith
APR Director of Communications
Lake Washington School District
425-702-3342
kreith@lwsd.org
Redmond High School Completes Solar Installation Project with Puget Sound Energy's Support
PV Educates Students and Staff, District Sees Potential to Power Portables
Redmond, Wash. (May 3, 2006) – When it was rebuilt in 2003, Redmond High School reflected the Lake Washington School District's desire to conserve energy and explore renewable sources of energy. The school was built with an innovative ground-coupled water source heat pump system, also known as a geothermal heat pump. Now the school has added another renewable energy feature, a first for a King County school, in a photovoltaic (PV) or solar electric system.
The system is complemented by a modern, web-based data system. A computer screen is set inside a kiosk in the school's main hallway, surrounded by a host of renewable energy information posters. The screen alternates between displays showing the PV system’s real-time energy production and an interactive presentation explaining how generating electricity from the sun actually works.
The PV system provides the school with a modest amount of solar power and the students with a learning tool. In addition, the experience has spurred the Lake Washington School District to consider PV as a potential power source. The district will pilot a solar power program this year with its portable classrooms. These self-contained buildings have high-demand energy systems.
"The PV panels are easily visible in the school’s main courtyard, which really exposes them to our students as well as the sun. Now, with the educational kiosk in the main hallway, our students can see how the project is performing," said Forrest Miller, director of support services.
"The educational aspect goes beyond our students as well," noted Miller. "This system gives us a hands-on understanding of what it takes to install a PV system, how it works and what to expect from it over time. All of this information is extremely valuable as we continue to look for ways to reduce our energy consumption. As a result, we will pilot the use of solar energy for portable classrooms with installation beginning this summer."
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) funded the system through a program dedicated to supporting renewable energy projects within its service territory. The Bonneville Environmental Foundation manages the program on its behalf. "We appreciated the opportunity to complement the innovative energy design features at the Redmond High School with a solar power system," said Mike Richardson, manager of renewable energy customer programs at PSE. "This is the first school solar project we've supported, and it proved to be an ideal location, in large part because of the support from the school and the district."
About the PV and Monitoring Systems
The solar power system includes six Sharp NT-175U1 modules, allowing for a peak capacity of approximately 1050 watts. One 1800-watt SMA inverter converts the DC output from the solar panels to useable AC power. The system is expected to generate more than 1,000 kilowatt-hours per year of renewable electricity. The data acquisition and monitoring system, from Fat Spaniel Technologies, Inc., will allow students to collect system performance information for presentation and analysis. More information on the system's performance is available on the Web at, http://view2.fatspaniel.net/FST/Portal/BurkeElectric/RedmondHS/flash/
index.swf.
About Lake Washington School District No. 414
With 48 schools and nearly 23,500 students, the Lake Washington School District is located in Redmond, Kirkland, and Sammamish, Washington. The District recognizes its fiscal and environmental responsibility to reduce consumption of energy and other resources. The District promotes an understanding of the relationship between the resource conservation program and the quality of our environment. It believes that resource conservation programs accomplish their goals best when resource conservation management is coordinated with educational opportunities and training.
About Puget Sound Energy
Puget Sound Energy is Washington State's oldest and largest energy utility, providing electric service to more than 1 million customers and natural gas service to more than 693,000 in 11 counties. The utility's green power program has almost 16,000 customers helping to generate approximately 6 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy every month for the Northwest grid, enough to serve approximately 6,000 homes.
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