I need help getting a solar panel for my school?
I want to e-mail my principle with a proposal to get a solar-panel for the school. In the e-mail I need to have a plan already laid out. Does anyone know of any organizations that help schools get solar panels?
I would recommend contacting your local renewable energy installer and asking them if they would be willing install a solar panel free of charge in exchange for some good PR.
A news article in the paper and on a local tv station will be good business for an installer.
The retail cost of a one panel, grid-tied system is about $2000 installed. About $1500 cost to the installer.
Hope this helps
If you would like to know more about what components are required visit this website:
http://www.aurorapower.net/alternative-energy/solar-electric.aspx
What do you want to run? A nightlight? The whole school?
If you want to run the whole school it’s unlikely the school has enough land to put in that many solar panels.
Although it would be ambitious, you could search for a grant through the federal government. There are many grants out there right now because of the Recovery Act. They award grants for a specific purpose however. If you would happen to be chosen, your work would just be beginning.
The creation of solar panels typically involves cutting crystalline silicon into tiny disks less than a centimeter thick. These thin, wafer-like disks are then carefully polished and treated to repair and gloss any damage from the slicing process. After polishing, dopants (materials added to alter an electrical charge in a semiconductor or photovoltaic solar cell) and metal conductors are spread across each disk. The conductors are aligned in a thin, grid-like matrix on the top of the solar panel, and are spread in a flat, thin sheet on the side facing the earth. To protect the solar panels after processing, a thin layer of cover glass is then bonded to the top of the photovoltaic cell. After the bonding of protective glass, the nearly-finished panel is attached to a subtrate by an expensive, thermally conductive cement.
If you’re viewing this as a way for the school to save money, I think your chances are slim.
On the other hand, if you just want it as part of a science demonstration, you could get a couple panels, an Enphase microinverter, and get a 350W system installed for maybe $1200, assuming you had parents that were already electricians and roofers, and could put it up for free. To raise the $1200 (could be a little more), you would go to the PTA, and see how they feel about raising the funds from parents’ donations. Once you get parents behind a project, many things are possible.