Solar-ready for Hurricane Isaac

As Florida braces for hurricane season, an ambitious program to install SolarWorld solar panels on 100 Florida schools by the end of 2012 has better equipped state residents to weather powerful storms, as per a press note.

Tapping a $10 million federal stimulus grant, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has enabled installation of a 10-kilowatt solar array at each of the schools to provide emergency power for school-based shelters in the event of storms such as the impending Hurricane Isaac.

The ground-mounted solar systems, as stated further, supplement the schools’ electricity during normal operations while charging a bank of back-up batteries. If schools are put into service as emergency shelters, the solar systems will power their lighting and critical equipment, drawing on the batteries during dark hours.

“These installations represent multi-purpose applications of solar technology,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for more than 35 years. “Solar is offering efficient and effective back-up power while reducing energy costs for schools and augmenting their science curriculum.”

SolarWorld Authorized Installer Vergona-Bowersox Electric Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., has completed installations at 83 schools to date. “These solar systems increase the value of the state’s emergency shelters, making them more useful to citizens facing natural disasters,” said Michael Vergona Jr., project manager for Vergona-Bowersox. “Evacuees during a hurricane now have a place to charge their cell phones, keep their medications and baby formula refrigerated, or heat up a meal.”

According to FSEC, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, participating schools were selected based on their status as emergency shelters, their demographics and their renewable-energy curriculum. “This forward-thinking program, using solar energy to enhance disaster response capabilities, is an innovative example of applying green technology to meet community needs,” said Susan Schleith, FSEC project manager for the SunSmart program. “This program also provides a dynamic learning resource for the classroom, allowing students and teachers to study the relationship between energy and the environment, while gaining valuable science and math skills.”