Adams 12 School District

When teachers at three Adams 12 Five Star schools returned to their classroom in August 2007, they found an exciting new teaching tool - an updated solar photovoltaic system.  Denver based SolSource was awarded a contract from the Colorado Science Energy Center (CSEC) to upgrade the data collection systems and inverters for each school's 2.2 system kW solar system.  The systems were initially installed in 1999 as part of the Xcel Solar Schools program.

As explained by Sam Crispin, Energy Engineer for Adams 12 Five Star School District, "...the systems at Horizon High School and Huron and Centry Middle School are intended to teach students, their families and the broader community about the energy, economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy".

SolSource connected the PV systems to a central network so that performance data is now accessible on the Internet, thus allowing students and teachers to see how much energy their system is producing from the sun.  Fat Spaniel, a partner of SolSource and leading provider of critical information services for the renewable energy industry, provided the data monitoring and web-based interface software.

Pam Packer, the School Coordinator for CSEC, will be developing a series of community outreach programs aimed at educating parents about the workings and economic, energy and environmental benefits for the systems.  Teachers from a range of subjects (e.g. social studies, earth sciences, chemistry) will use the PV systems as a teaching tool.

To view the performance of the Horizon High School's PV system, see the link to:

Click here to see the real time production of this system!!