renewable energy research project high school

Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students

Research output : Book/Report › Book

NREL Publication Number

• NREL/BK-820-30926

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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• https://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30926.pdf

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• Renewable Energy Social Sciences 100%
• High School Student Social Sciences 100%
• Research Project Social Sciences 100%
• Secondary Schools Arts and Humanities 100%
• Renewable Energy Resource Social Sciences 50%
• GaIN Arts and Humanities 50%
• Questioning Arts and Humanities 50%

T1 - Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students

AU - NREL, null

N2 - Guide to help high school students gain confidence and understanding of renewable and non-renewable energy resources by investigating, questioning, and experimenting with scientific ideas.

AB - Guide to help high school students gain confidence and understanding of renewable and non-renewable energy resources by investigating, questioning, and experimenting with scientific ideas.

BT - Research Projects in Renewable Energy for High School Students

• News & Events

Building Solar Cells In The Classroom

ANSER researchers prepare a new generation for a more sustainable future

Renewable energy saw the highest growth rate of any fuel source in 2017, meeting a quarter of global energy demand growth last year according to the International Energy Agency. With an eye on this rapidly changing global energy landscape, members of the Argonne-Northwestern Solar Energy Research (ANSER) Center have developed an experiential learning program and startup company to teach younger generations about the shift towards a more sustainable future. The researchers have created hands-on educational kits that allow middle school and high school students to build solar cells and batteries using common household items.

“We believe it’s important to engage students in the STEM fields [science, technology, engineering, and math] at an early age,” says Dick Co, research professor of chemistry at Northwestern and ANSER Center director of operations and outreach. “Who wouldn’t enjoy making a solar cell with their own hands and experiencing the magic of turning sunlight into electricity?”

The solar cell kits allow students to use everyday ingredients, such as blackberry juice, to make functional solar panels. Sunlight activates the purple substance inside the blackberry juice to release electrons that flow out of the solar panel to give electric power. The other kits, which focus on battery technology, allow students to use the chemical energy stored in selected food and other household items to make electricity. Students learn about mechanical assembly, acidity of food, acid batteries, and energy storage.

Sameer Patwardhan, a former postdoctoral fellow at the ANSER Center, and Co decided to develop the kits after years of conducting educational workshops for thousands of students and hundreds teachers. During these engagements, they began to see a gap in the types of programs that were available. They also noticed that even highly motivated teachers faced logistical and budgetary barriers to bringing these types of activities into their middle and high school classrooms.

“We learned that affordable, hands-on activities in solar energy science are almost non-existent in school curricula, and that there is a dire need for inquiry-based learning under the Next Generation Science Standards that are currently being implemented in schools across the US,” says Patwardhan. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are guidelines adopted by 19 states—including Northwestern’s home state of Illinois—and the District of Columbia with the goal of creating common standards for teaching and developing greater interest in science among students.

“Our efforts to disseminate the research conducted at the ANSER Center to a broad audience and inspire the next generation naturally led us to the development of these hands-on activities. What followed was the manufacturing of these educational kits under the spin-out company PC Technologies LLC. Our kits and curricula have already reached classrooms in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa,” says Patwardhan.

While do-it-yourself dye-sensitized solar cells are not new, Patwardhan and Co founded PC Technologies to address several obstacles faced by teachers and enthusiasts, including high costs and complexity of ordering and stocking supplies. The educational kits from PC Technologies are all self-contained, making it easier and cheaper for teachers to bring these experiments to their classrooms.

“With the solar kits, students get excited to see sunlight powering an LED light. And with the battery kit, they are amazed to see a lightbulb glow for days by just using pieces of potato, for example. It creates an element of surprise and wonder that generates curiosity in the STEM fields,” Patwardhan says.

The mission of the ANSER Center is to revolutionize humans’ understanding of molecules, materials, and methods necessary to create dramatically more efficient technologies for solar fuels and electricity production. For Co, the kits are a natural extension of that mission.

“The ANSER Center remains committed to creating and mentoring a technically excellent workforce capable of solving energy-related problems. With the global reach of our science kits, we’re inspiring the workforce and consumers of solar energy far into the future,” he says.

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Empowering the next generation of sustainable energy researchers

As pressure mounts to reduce global reliance on fossil fuels, sustainable energy engineering and battery technology offer a pathway to harness energy from renewable resources. A dedicated group of Stanford students is working beyond campus to empower the next generation of energy researchers to explore this challenging and exciting field.

Several graduate students studying battery technology in  William Chueh ’s lab group wanted to incorporate science outreach into their work. They noticed that traditional outreach efforts often neglected the importance of sustainable and renewable energy engineering. So, they connected with  Stanford Energy Club  to found  Pre-collegiate Opportunities Within Energy Research (POWER)  in 2020 with an aim to diversify the pipeline to sustainable energy careers. Building on existing relationships cultivated by the  Education & STEM Outreach  team in the  Stanford Office of Community Engagement , POWER partnered with San Francisco Bay Area high schools whose populations include students from underrepresented minority and low-income backgrounds. Stanford students now regularly visit high schools to provide workshops that combine traditional instruction and hands-on activities.

“I really liked science in high school, but I got started in batteries and energy storage by chance,” said Louisa Greenburg, a Stanford PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering and Teaching Lead for POWER. “I want to make sure that the high school students today have that opportunity to explore energy topics and energy research, especially in the current environment, with so much enthusiasm and momentum toward sustainability and the energy transition.”  

Taking high school students behind the scenes

This year, POWER expanded its reach to offer a day trip to Stanford’s campus for students from Branham High School in San Jose who have been participating in the club’s classroom workshops. The event was funded in part by the  Mel Lane Student Grants Program  offered through the  Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment . These grants support Stanford student-driven and managed projects that make a direct impact on sustainability issues, including through community education.

The tour began with an introduction to the sophisticated tools in the  Stanford Shared Nano Facilities  that Stanford scholars use to test and develop novel materials for solar energy and battery storage. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy helps researchers characterize the thinnest top layers of a material to better understand changes in the chemistry of a battery over the course of its lifetime. A Scanning Electron Microscope creates high-resolution images of particles about the size of a grain of pollen or smaller, which can help researchers refine the design of high-performance battery electrodes. In the colorful engineering playground of the  Product Realization Lab , Stanford students prototype, troubleshoot, and iterate on projects ranging from intricate electronics to whimsical 3D-printed apparel.

Ray Radlinsky, a science and engineering teacher at Branham High School, noted the importance of coming to campus so his students can connect concepts from class to applied research. “Just seeing the equipment is really valuable, and it’s not something you could just bring to our high school,” he said.

Digging into the juicy details

Following a presentation highlighting the connections between energy and waste sorting and a networking lunch with graduate researchers, the day concluded with a challenge for the participants to bring all the concepts together.

Using only a few tools and materials – berries, binder clips, pencil graphite, and glass slides with a conductive coating – the attendees crafted solar photovoltaic cells that mimic the process of photosynthesis. In the same way that sunlight hits the green pigment in plant leaves to kick off the production of food and oxygen, the students used flashlights to excite the electrons in dye extracted from the berries. Bouncing multimeters around the room indicated the successful flow of electrical currents. When scaled up to industrial-grade solar panels, the same mechanism converts sunlight to power our everyday energy use.

Reflecting on the experience, POWER leaders recognized that positive outcomes went both ways. While the participants gained valuable insight into the world of energy research, the student organizers – still early in their academic research careers – benefited from an opportunity to think about their work in a new light.

“I'm learning how to communicate science and the things I'm interested in to people who don’t talk about it and think about it everyday. It actually makes me realize things about my work that I haven't realized before,” said Swati Narasimhan, a PhD candidate in Materials Science and Engineering and POWER’s founder and current Education Content Lead. “These kids are going to be making all the changes because they're going to feel the impacts of climate change even more than I have. So it's just fun to see them get excited and inspired.”

The POWER club also received funding for the on-campus event from the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education’s Diversity and Inclusion Innovation Funds and nano@stanford. The solar cell activity was designed and led by Tracy Schloemer, a postdoctoral scholar in Electrical Engineering. Additional support for the event was provided by Juliana Lu-Yang, PhD ‘23; Xiaomian Yang, undergraduate in Computer Science and Materials Science and Engineering; Sunny Wang, PhD candidate in Chemistry; Xin Xu, postdoctoral scholar in Materials Science and Engineering; Peter Benedek, postdoctoral scholar in Chemical Engineering; and Ava Acevedo, undergraduate class of ‘26.

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• High School Sustainable Energy Education (SEE)

The Challenge

Engineering education is of growing importance in society. Climate change and sustainable energy are areas of immense societal importance and student interest. Educational outreach is critical for reaching a more diverse population of students and enabling a wider cross-section of society to positively contribute to the sustainable energy transformation.

ROSEI’s Impact

The  Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute has launched a four-week summer program for high school students to learn about sustainable energy engineering. Offered through the Whiting School of Engineering’s Engineering Innovation program , the program builds on ROSEI’s efforts to educate future leaders in the field of energy, one of the institute’s core missions. The same course may also be offered to Johns Hopkins undergraduate students during the fall or spring as part of the new Energy minor .

A “Crash Course” in All Things Sustainable Energy Engineering

“Our goal is to help these students figure out if they want to pursue this area of engineering in college.”

Described as a crash course in all things related to sustainable energy engineering, the curriculum for the program was co-developed by Rachel Sangree , a ROSEI-associated researcher and associate teaching professor in the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, and  Claire VerHulst , the assistant director of Engineering Innovation. It starts with a few basic lessons: how energy impacts everyone’s daily lives, the sources of energy that are currently used, and the fundamental science and engineering concepts that are critical to working on energy problems. Emphasizing how climate change is driving both policy and business toward more renewable energy sources, students will then learn how energy is harnessed from hydroelectric, wind, solar, and biomass sources, as well as ways to make two of the most energy-intensive systems in society—transportation and buildings—more energy efficient.

“Our goal is to help these students figure out if they want to pursue this area of engineering in college,” VerHulst said. “There are so many aspects of being an engineer, like working on problems that don’t have a single correct solution, or being part of a group that collects and analyzes data. We want to give the students an overview of the landscape and develop the skills of asking good questions and identifying good sources.”

Student Input

“Having two people who were not as far removed from high school as Claire and I was crucial to not only ensuring that the level of the work was appropriate, but also that the lessons were engaging and met their intended learning objectives.”

The curriculum will include both classroom lectures and hands-on experiments, which will help the students translate the fundamental theories and concepts they learn in the classroom into real-world applications. Over the summer, Sangree and VerHulst worked with Cecilia Doyle, a fourth-year civil and systems engineering student, and Vedant Gabhawala, a third-year mechanical engineering student, to design and test the program’s curriculum to ensure it was neither too easy nor too difficult for high school students. The students provided valuable feedback and ideas.

“The students worked in the lab every day this summer, consistently demonstrating a high level of energy and enthusiasm for the project. Not only did they test the experiments that Claire and I developed, they also designed and tested experiments of their own,” Sangree said. “Having two people who were not as far removed from high school as Claire and I was crucial to not only ensuring that the level of the work was appropriate, but also that the lessons were engaging and met their intended learning objectives.”

Creating More-Informed Citizens

VerHulst hopes the program sparks participants’ interest in pursuing the study of sustainable energy engineering in college. But even those who do not go on to further studies in the field will likely be impacted by what they learn over the summer.

“Because these students are so young, climate change will greatly impact their lives. We hope this program prepares students to make positive change in the world through engineering and technology,” VerHulst said. “Even if a student decides that engineering isn’t for them, they will leave the program as a more informed citizen who is better able to take action to support sustainable energy and mitigate the devastating effects of climate change.”

• Ralph S. O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI)
• Engineering Innovation Program (EI)
• Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE)

New Summer Pre-College Program Focuses on Sustainable Energy Engineering , The Hub

First Year of ROSEI’s SEE Program is a Rousing Success , ROSEI Website

SEE Leaders

Rachel sangree, claire verhulst, photos from 2023 see program.

Lesson Plans & Resources

The Clean Energy Institute has developed detailed lesson plans that connect Next Generation Science Standards with the science of clean energy. These lessons include NGSS-aligned content for the elementary, middle, and high school level. Participants in our Research Experience for Teachers program have also developed clean energy lab courses for undergraduate students. Activities range from quick demos to multi-day investigations and supporting teaching units.

Pedal Power

English/Spanish Climate Science Handout

The DIY Guide to Solving Climate Change

Electromagnets & Motors

Nanocrystalline Dye Solar Cell

Solar Tracker Arduino Project

Solar Energy Data Exploration

Photovoltaic Characterization Lab

Phosphorescent Decay

Nanoimprinting

Mathematics of Porous Materials

Luminescent Solar Concentrator

Solar Circuits

Print a Solar Car

Fuzzy Molecule Challenge

Electrochemical Chameleon

Bubble Raft Crystal Model

Rainbow Bookmarker

Sun Dawg Bag

Solar Car Derby

Renewable City

Draw a Circuit: Fun with Graphite

Modeling Solar Grid Integration with Math

Absorption and Fluorescence with USB Spectrometer

Aluminum Air Battery

Solar Fan STEM Kit Challenge

Water Model of Electricity

Solar Spinner

Solar Panel Workshop

Glowing Colors

A Battery from Household Chemicals

Latest Projects Based on Renewable Energy

The following projects are based on renewable energy. This list shows the latest innovative projects which can be built by students to develop hands-on experience in areas related to/ using renewable energy.

1. Automated Solar Grass Cutter

Today the most promising source of energy where everyone focusing is the concept of Solar Power and its Utilization. Generally, we see people who had gardens use lawn mowers manually to cut the unwanted grass. Those lawn movers are powered from normal household’s power through cables or using petrol/diesel. Using cables creates messing problem and if there is any power cut, we can’t use that lawn mower. Similarly, if we use petrol/diesel powered machine, it requires money and they create pollution through the smoke. Through this project, you are going to build a unique Automatic Solar Grass Cutter (Lawn Mower) which is powered by solar energy and it will overcome all the above-mentioned problems.

2. Generating Electricity From Sound Waves

In today's world, we are facing scarcity of Electricity. Generally, in lots of places in INDIA and SOUTH AFRICA, some villages are not getting electricity. In that way, you might be thinking about the hydropower or wind or solar but there is something crazy about generating electricity through industrial machine sounds or sound produced by the crowd in stadium or vehicle traffic noise. Sounds cool right! SLNOTE

3. Turning Gravity into Light

In today's modern world we have ample amount of facility which can satisfy above our basic need, unfortunately this condition is not satisfied everywhere in countries like Kenya, India where millions of people don't have electricity to lighten their house even renewable energy(wind, solar, water) are hardly available at some places and they are using harmful fuels like kerosene to power their house spending 20% of their income. What is the solution?

4. Smart Power Shoe

Humans are harvesting energy in wonderfully different ways, which means they think a lot to innovate something which is helpful to society. It's not easy to think about the alternative energy apart from solar, hydro, biogas. Renewable energies are the best alternative energy in today's world. We are generating power through nature by converting heat/pressure/kinetic energy into electrical energy in a more effective way.

5. Ocean Drone

DronDrones are something we call as UAV(unmanned Aerial Vehicles) an aircraft without an human pilot. UAVs are basically an ground controlled system means they are fully Autonomous. Application of Drones are expanding from commercial, scientific, recreational, agricultural, and other applications.IT can be used in Landways, waterways, airways or in space.

Build projects on latest technologies

Want to develop practical skills on latest technologies? Checkout our latest projects and start learning for free

6. Dual Wind Turbine

A new wind turbine generator system (WTGS) is introduced, and its mathematical model, blade pitch control scheme, and nonlinear simulation software for the performance prediction are presented. The notable feature of WTGS is that it consists of two rotor systems positioned horizontally at upwind and downwind locations, and a generator installed vertically inside the tower.

7. Electric Harvesting Tiles

It's all about generating energy from people's footsteps. Every time the people walk we are capturing that kinetic energy and turns into electricity the more people walk moreover we can create. Well, it's not just about the power it's about power data and engagement. You can generate 10 seconds of light from one foot. We don't want any large transformer for generating power. Yes, this creation is helpful for human resources. It requires no natural resources.

8. Battery Bottle

Adventure come with obstacles. Life is full of adventure but now where ever you go you phone is always with you or some other electronic devices which helps you to keep in touch and you find your way but these devices need to be charged. It's also very important to be hydrated in this adventurous life. But what if clean water is not available any solution? In this project you are going to make an innovative model with battery pack having USB connection and which also purifies water.

9. Air Pollution Detector

Air pollution consists of chemicals or particles in the atmosphere that causes serious health and environmental health but what causes air pollution for our planet. Most of the air pollution comes from human activities very least are from natural activities like a volcano eruption. Most of the harmful gases formed are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfates, nitrates, through Greenhouse gases, smog, toxic pollutants like lead and mercury now the question is do we have a solution? In this project, you are going to make an air pollution detector by using an Arduino and some air quality sensors. You need one Arduino Uno, LCD display, and 5-volt power supply

10. Noise Pollution Detector

Noise is basically an unwanted sound(>90db)One more type of pollution that harms the environment and living entities in a big way is Noise pollution. It's a machine created unpleasant noise which disrupts the human or animal life construction, transportation, railway, aircraft noise. these increase in high-pressure waves can cause you high blood pressure, headaches, hypertension.

11. Water Pollution Detector

Water is the bases of life and only a tiny share of water all the water on earth is fresh and renewable. More than 97% of water is salty to drink.another 2% is locked up in ice form and glacier. Less than 1% ii left for Drinking, Agriculture, Industry, and nature. Water is a global issue but it's also a very local issue.

12. Transparent Solar Building

13. solar backpack.

A backpack — also called bookbag, kitbag, knapsack, rucksack, rucksack, pack, backpack or backpack — is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be variations to this basic design. Backpacks are commonly used by hikers and students and are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands.

14. Vortex Type Bladeless Windmill

As you are well aware of the fact the natural energy is the need of future considering a small initiative by Government of India to supply electric current to every home in the country and supply it for 24 Hours, alternatives to hydropower, which credits natural energy its own importance in the market.

15. EWICON- Electrostatic Wind Energy Converter

As you are well aware of the fact the natural energy is the need of future considering a small initiative by Government of India to supply Electric Power to every home in the country and supply it for 24 Hours, alternatives to hydropower, which credits natural energy its own importance in the market.

16. How to Design a Water Cleaning Boat?

Due to lack of circulation, water can become stale and undrinkable. In order to ensure safe and clean drinking water on board, your boat freshwater system needs to be sanitized if it hasn’t been used for some time, for example before your first use of the system after your boat has been stored for the winter. In order to clean boat water tanks, you have to remove the old water before starting the disinfection procedure.

17. Battery Free Flashlight

Do you think by using battery constrain you to run the technology anywhere in the world or in a solar system. Our drawback is battery we need some platform or power source for storage of power in the form of chemical energy. What if you are making your project without battery sounds crazy right! You don't need to store energy anywhere or neither you need to convert into another form. What happens when you use the battery you are converting in the chemical energy to store in battery and then again to are converting into electrical energy in that process you are losing some amount of energy in form of power. Usually batteries are made of terrible chemicals among very few are being recycled and finally, in the end, we have to dispose of them in the earth which might be very dangerous for humans in future

18. Salt Light Lamp

The idea behind this project salt lamp is the chemical conversion of energy. It utilizes the scientific process behind the Galvanic cell, but instead of electrolytes, the SALt lamp uses saline solution, making it harmless and non-toxic. SALt lamp project is an LED lamp powered by the galvanic reaction of an anode with saline water. It also has a USB port to charge low-power mobile devices such as cellphones, smartphones, and mp3 players.The anode must be replaced approximately every six months and the saline water daily; sea water is usable.

19. Eco Cooler

As temperature is rise in many parts of the country, we are suffering from heat cramps, exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke.According to studies in America, hundreds of people around the world die every year from heat-related conditions, which can be completely avoided if preventive measures are taken.where temperature reach up to 45 deg Celsius making corrugated tin huts unbearable to live in.

20. Solar powered Environmental system

To save the city it is very high time to take necessary steps. Creating public awareness is first one of the steps. For creating public awareness we need real time data of the noise we are creating everyday. If every one can see the noise level and air quality in real time it will create a mental pressure for taking steps against the pollution. Researcher will also be benefited from this open source real time data.

21. Matlab Simulation on HydroEnergy system

Hydropower is common for many years in countries that have mountains and water. Small hydroelectric power plants harness the falling water kinetic energy to generate electricity. Turbine transform falling water kinetic energy into mechanical energy and then,

22. Simulation Of Solar Energy System With MATLAB

Solar energy is that energy which we gain from the sun through radiation on daily basis. Solar energy is present on the earth continuously and the energy generated by the sun is abundant for all types of application but harnessing that energy is the major factor.

23. Matlab simulation on Wind Energy system

Wind energy is an efficient and emerging field of power generation since high power can be generated without many losses compared to other types of power generation. Wind energy is extracted from the blowing winds which hit the turbine blades causing them to rotate along their axis.

24. Aluminium Powered Car

About the project.

Alternate power sources are rapidly spreading into research fields. Multiple sources are being experimented to replace the combustion fuels from petroleum products. One such experiement is power by aluminium

25. Perpendicular Wind Turbines

Perpendicular Wind Turbines. Rising sea levels and escalating pollution levels has generated worldwide interest and has given rise to new wind turbines designs.(Check out EWICON, Bladeless windmill)

26. Electricity from Sand Bacteria

Given the finite supply of fossil fuels, this biofuel cell is a promising approach for generating power in a renewable, carbon-neutral way. One approach is use of fuel cell and generating the energy using bacterias from muds

27. All About Buildings With Photovoltaic Glazing System

28. hydropower using treated sewage water.

Urban migration is the major reason for the generation of large amounts of sewage water. To overcome that large number of sewage treatment plants are built.

29. Ocean Electricity

There are different electricity sources and from them some cause high pollution to the environment and while others are free from pollution but the efficiency is very less. If there is no water in the dam then there is no electricity from the hydroelectric station.

30. Underwater Turbines

We are in an era where we can’t live without electricity even for ten minutes. The major proportion of electricity is produced is from non-conventional or non-renewable sources. Thermal power station alone accounts for about 70 - 80% of the electricity generation.  And the remaining is produced by hydro, wind, etc.

31. Hybrid Solar Energy

These days electricity has become a need for the survival of the human being on this earth. The major source of the electricity is conventional energy sources which is produced in thermal power stations by using Coal. And the reserves of the coal are been depleted day by day.

32. Automatic Solar Tracker

You can build this project at home. You can build the project using online tutorials developed by experts. 1-1 support in case of any doubts. 100% output guaranteed. Get certificate on completing.

33. 4 Smart Energy Projects

34. solar & smart energy systems, 35. 5 arduino projects, latest projects based on renewable energy, any questions.

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Clean Energy

5,500 u.s. schools use solar power, and that’s growing as costs fall, study shows, as renewable energy prices drop, schools are saving millions, while teaching students about technology. their solar capacity has nearly doubled in three years., share this article.

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In a field behind an elementary school in rural Middlesex County, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay, an ambitious plan has been taking shape: Schools Superintendent Peter Gretz and other local administrators are preparing to power their school district with solar energy.

By next August, Virginia-based solar developer Sun Tribe Solar expects to have an array of solar panels in place in that field that can generate enough electricity to power the county’s elementary school and middle school—at a price well below their current electricity costs—while offering students, teachers and the community a way to learn about clean energy .

“We felt it was important work for our kids, and we wanted them to see the community leading in a way that was responsible and sustainable, as well as fiscally responsible and efficient,” Gretz said.

The number of schools powered by solar is growing quickly. About 5 percent of all K-12 U.S. schools are now powered by the sun, and their solar capacity has almost doubled in the last three years, according to a new study by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), The Solar Foundation, and Generation 180, a clean energy nonprofit.

The nearly 5,500 schools using solar power today have a total of 910 megawatts of solar capacity, enough to power 190,000 homes, according to the study.

The biggest reason for the surge is the economic benefits of solar energy. Drastic declines in price have made it financially viable for schools. Both public and private schools are reducing their electricity bills with solar, leaving them more money to spend on educational programs, according to the research. Many are also incorporating renewable energy into their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lessons.

Mirroring the overall solar landscape, California has the most school installations, with nearly 2,000 schools that use solar power. Nevada has the highest adoption rate: 23 percent of schools are now using solar energy. New Jersey, Arizona, Massachusetts and New York, other states with solar-friendly policies and a rapidly growing solar base, also have high adoption rates, according to the study.

“People are excited about the environmental benefits, and the curriculum development, but what has moved the needle is the economics,” said Devin Welch, vice president of business development for Sun Tribe. “It has really changed the narrative completely.”

Schools Are Saving Millions of Dollars

Sun Tribe has spent the last two years working to expand solar in Virginia, which gets less than 1 percent of its electricity from solar. The company has installed an array on a private school campus near Charlottesville and on the University of Virginia’s campus . By partnering with the Virginia Association of Independent Schools, Sun Tribe is working to expand a pilot program for third-party power purchase agreements in the state.

“Schools have always been in demand for solar because it aligns so well with their mission: preparing the next generation of leaders,” Welch said.

According to the study, the average school solar system is about 300 kilowatts, which is 900 to 1,200 panels. Most are installed on rooftops, but there are many other models: solar farms are being built near campuses or on shaded carports in parking lots; urban schools with less space are participating in community solar projects ; new buildings are being designed to be solar or net-zero-energy ready. The projects can save school districts into the millions of dollars over the projects’ 25-year lifetime. Kern High School District in Bakersfield, California, for example, is estimated to save as much as $80 million in electricity costs over 25 years with its 22-megawatt project.

The upfront costs of the majority of school solar projects are funded through power purchase agreements, which allow a solar company to install panels and sell the power to the school, but some have also been funded through school bonds if the state does not allow third-party solar.

Middlesex County is using a power purchase agreement with Sun Tribe and will pay 6.8 cents a kilowatt-hour for solar, compared to about 9 cents the district currently pays, Gretz said. The district expects to save about $2.5 million in energy costs over 25 years with the solar panels.

The Students Get It

There has been some pushback from communities, although most, even in a conservative state like Virginia, have been on board as prices have dropped to make solar more affordable for schools. But the students get it, Welch said. In many cases, students have been the ones to push schools to transition to solar power, and some have gotten jobs with solar installers after projects were completed.

To cultivate more of that enthusiasm, solar companies are partnering with local organizations to develop math and science curriculums that teach students and teachers about renewable energy. In North Carolina, the nonprofit NC GreenPower has a program that offers low-income schools in the state a curriculum about solar, along with a 5-kilowatt solar array and weather station that classrooms and often, the community, can use as an educational tool.

“We hope this opens the door, especially in areas where solar is not welcomed,” said Katie Lebrato, marketing communications director for NC GreenPower. “This provides an educational opportunity for folks who live nearby.”

The sector is growing rapidly, but like the solar industry as a whole, the expansion of solar-powered schools depends on market forces, cheaper technology, the adoption of solar-friendly regulations by states, and the outcome of the international solar tariff trade case , said Shawn Rumery, SEIA director of research.

In Middlesex County, construction is about to begin. Gretz is excited to learn alongside students about how solar energy works. “I don’t know anything about solar, I was an English teacher,” he said. “The kids will be involved and teachers are involved. It’s important for kids to see and have access to this technology.”

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Working hypotheses on the hydropower resources' involvement in the structure of the mountainous areas' economic framework

R O Kalov 1 , D D Kiloev 2 and R S Elmurzaev 3

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering , Volume 913 , Mechanics of a deformable solid Citation R O Kalov et al 2020 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 913 052031 DOI 10.1088/1757-899X/913/5/052031

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1 Alpine Geophysical Institute, 2, Lenin Ave., Nalchik, 360030, Russia

2 Grozny State Oil Technical University named after academician M. D. Millionshchikov, 100, Isaev ave., Grozny, Russia

3 Chechen State University, Grozny, 32, Sheripova str., 364024, Russia.

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The hydropower resources of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (Kabardino-Balkaria (KBR)) are estimated at 3 thousand MW, however, the total generation of the functioning hydroelectric power stations does not exceed 160 MW, or only 5.3% of the potential river capacity [1]. Neither the presence of a series of the programs for hydropower development, nor the favorable conditions for the technologies' import, nor the economic feasibility studies for the projects have improved the situation. The persistently not decreasing imbalance in the electric power industry structure in the mountain zone became the motive for a new attempt to actualize the indicated problem. The implementation of the idea will be an important step in "embedding" the Russian research in the field of mining hydropower in the international context of the transition to the renewable energy sources.

The purpose of the article is to publicly discuss the most important agenda for the republic - the overdue optimization of the electric power industry structure, the understanding of the possible options for involving the mountain rivers with slightly changed hydrological parameters. The objectives of the publication are:

– the suitability study of the small tributaries supplying the main mountain rivers for generating electricity;

– identification of the river sections, in the first approximation, possessing the favorable technical and economic indicators, for involvement in the electric power industry;

– study of the necessity and possibilities of regulating the mountain rivers' flow;

– formulation of the hydropower units' relative position working hypothesis. The authors consider the underestimated hydropower potential of high mountain small tributaries of the rivers, which have high water pressure (from 25 to 100 m). The relevance of their involvement is also due to the steady growth of point energy consumers in the mountains, for which the autonomous power plants are the optimal source of energy supply. Such suppliers of energy resources can be small and ultra-small hydropower plants, the technological characteristics of which adequately fit into the natural specifics of the mountain valleys [2].

The article does not share the widespread opinion about the categorical inadmissibility of the water-accumulating structures' creation in the mountains. Without denying the presence of limiting environmental and technological factors for the water-regulating objects' construction in the mountain zone, the article draws attention to the fact that they are not critical and are completely solvable by searching for compromises, including the choice of the optimal alignment for placing the hydraulic units.

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