By SUZANNE MARINO
Staff Writer
MARGATE – Visitors to the William Ross School cannot miss the latest addition to the lobby. It looks like an ATM machine at first glance, but with the help of District Superintendent Dominick Potena and the touch screen, the kiosk becomes a lesson in green energy.
Last year Margate became the only school in the state to have all its buildings equipped with solar panels. The $2.1 million project was funded through a 40 percent grant from the New Jersey Schools Construction Corp., and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities picked up the balance.
Solar photovoltaic panels cover the flat roof surfaces at each of the district’s three schools. The sun’s energy is captured in the solar panels as direct current; then it goes through a converter that changes it to alternating current to allow it to be used to help operate the school. The overflow electricity goes out through a grid used by the local utility company to supply energy to homes.
The overflow also earns the school district “green credits,” which result in further reductions to the district’s energy bills.
The kiosk is an interactive computer terminal that was provided at no cost to the school by the solar panel manufacturer, Lighton Industries. It gives a tutorial on how the solar photovoltaic cells work. It is also a source of information on weather conditions. The kiosk can be used to find out how much energy is being produced at the Ross School, and it also logs the amount of energy that has been made available to Atlantic City Electric to power the surrounding area.
According to Potena, the school’s solar panels operate at peak efficiency on a sunny day that is below 85 degrees. And as long as there is any daylight, the panels are collecting and converting the sun’s energy for use to operate the building.
The energy drawn from the panels at the Ross School each day is enough to power more than 6,785 60-watt light bulbs or run 2,280 homes for a day, Potena said, and the school has produced 75,241 kilowatt hours of electricity to date.
The superintendent said that sometime down the road, classroom computers will interface with the kiosk in the hall.
“Our students will be able to take the information given here and use it in other contexts, for example in a math lesson or a science lesson.”
The kiosk was just installed, and Potena said the school will be giving classes a chance to view just what the solar panels mean to the school and what they have been able to do for the environment using a completely renewable resource.
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