According to Jim Carlton's article in the Wall Street Journal The Enlightened Classroom, more than 500 k-12 schools in 43 states have installed solar panels, thus far. For these schools, renewable energy is serving as a job saver for teachers, a cost reducer for school districts and a hands-on instructor for students. In an age where saving money is invaluable to school disctricts, solar power could be the solution for which we've been looking!
"[Solar power] will have the most impact in our society, because it will put money back into more teachers and expand education." - Rhone Resch, president and chief executive officer of the Solar Energy Industries Association.
In many places solar power is cheaper than traditional electricity. In California, for instance, solar power costs 11-12 cents per kilowatt-hour, whereas retail power is about 17-24 cents per kilowatt-hour. The cheaper electricity offers schools an opportunity to cut costs without cutting programs or teachers.
Schools are also embracing these solar panel systems as additional lessons in science, and renewable energy. At Rosa Parks Elementary school in Berkeley, California, students race solar powered cars, operate a solar powered decorative fountain and participate in an annual solar fair.
Read about more examples of schools saving money and students learning about renewable energy in this article.
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