E6 History
STILL A ROUGH DRAFT - NEEDS EDITING AFTER BEING MOVED OVER FROM OLD SITEOur school has won several grants which we've used to make our school as "green" as possible. We have a 1.06 kW solar system on it's own digital meter that helps power our library & computer lab, this is compliments of a PG&E grant awarded in the fall of 2006.Another PG&E grant, the Bright Ideas grant, awarded in the fall of 2007, allowed us to buy 16 solar "Sun Ovens" (www.sunoven.com) which the kids use to prepare their lunches, cookies, cakes, snacks, etc. on any sunny day. As a part of this grant, we are working on creating a solar cookbook to sell so we can raise some money to send a Sun Oven to Africa. We have contact with a village in the Congo that still relies on wood for cooking, etc. Our hope is to send at least one oven per year to this village so as they learn about solar cooking, they can distribute the ovens to the villagers as they learn how to use the solar ovens. In the fall of 2007 we were awarded a grant from the Paradise Community Foundation that allowed us to start a large recycling and composting program at our school. This grant was awarded to us in large part due to the help of Jennifer Arbuckle of Norther Recycling and Waste Services. In the fall of 2007 our recycling program got off the ground and in the spring of 2008 we added a 7,000-worm "worm farm" and two thermal-composters as well as a rain-diversion barrel. It is our hope to now add a vegetable & herb garden near our worm farm so we can grow veggies, which we will use to prepare recipes in our solar ovens! All of this has been such a blast, and watching our 6th graders learn about conservation, the principles of "reduce, reuse, recycle" and how to apply them in real life has been so amazing! Parents are telling us all the time that their kids are hounding them for throwing away recyclable items or things that can be composted. It is just awesome!MORE ABOUT OUR GRANTS:Evergreen's 16 Sun Ovens:Only one year after winning the solar panel grant, E6 won another awesome PG&E grant through their "Bright Ideas" program! We used the money from this grant to purchase 16 amazing Sun Ovens. These solar ovens cook using only the power of the sun and can get up to 400˚ or more.More information to follow soon...Students who sign up to cook items at school:-Prepare at home, take dirty dishes home that day.-Have a back-up lunch (sun, wind, rain, 4-square ball)-9x10 pan maximum-Think healthy, balanced meals-Partner with others to make several items to share for lunch-Set up on your time before school, at break or lunch-Keep track of what works for a future recipe book assignment-Sign up in E2, experiment, and enjoy cooking with free energy!Internet Links
Internet Links
Great Solar Cooking resource!http://solarcooking.org/Another site promoting solar cooking....http://solarcookers.org/PG&E Solar Schools Program
PG&E Solar Schools Program
Evergreen's 1.06 kW System:
Evergreen's 1.06 kW System:
We are so furtunate to have won this grant from PG&E for a FREE solar system! Total value is approximately $20,000! This includes the solar panels, monitoring system w/ 5 year subscription, teacher training and resources, and incredible support from all of the organizations involved. Please review the links below to learn more. Also, here is a partial list of all who made this possible:PG&E, Dan Quigley and Alyssa NewmanGlen Kizer, The Foundation for Environmental EducationMary Spruil, The NEED organizationParadise Unified School District Staff:David Hurd, Facilities AdministrationTeri Williams, AccountingWayne Harry, TechnologySean, ElectricalSteve Jennings, AdministrationRon Schmidt, AdministrationSteve Harrington, AdministrationTom Taylor, AdministrationMike Ervin, AdministrationSteve Taber, Princeton EnergyTony Alexander, Coordinating DonationsNorthGate Rock, Soil for underneath panels, sand for wall and delivery!!!Ace Hardware (Paradise) for a price break on the cinder blocks for the retaining wallInternet Links
Internet Links
Below is a link to the Solar Schools website. Here you can see the application process, as well as program outline.Solar Schools Program InformaionThis link will show the location of all current and future PG&E Solar Schools. An endless supply of data from around the state!California Solar Schools Monitoring WebsiteHere is the subcontractor who installed the Evergreen system. They took time out of their work to explain the system to our students and toanswer several questions from students and staff. Thanks to Jake, Nick and Greg!Ehre TechnologyOur system has Sharp brand solar panels. They have a great website - including a calculator to help determine if solar is right for you!Click on the EZ Calculator on the left hand side of this website.Sharp Solar USA WebsiteDarian's grandfather owns a local solar business. Great information about how it pays to go solar!Sun Valley SolarTeodor Galitev, Design and solar engineer for the project. Here is his website:http://www.goldensolar.com/Thanks to Chris Graillat of the California Department of energy for providing the next two informative links. Find our about the California Solar Initiative, an excellent solar calculator, and a list of registered local installers. There are also calculators on the Web site to determine what you need.Go Solar California! HomepageAn up-to-date blog on what is happening at solar schools around the country.Energy SeedsNational Energy Education Development Projecthttp://www.need.org/The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)http://www.learnenergy.org/An annual Plumas County Solar Cook-Off in Julyhttp://www.plumasarts.com/prelease/solar06.htmlHelmet teaches us by showing how to make your house more efficient - and save money too!Great Learning Site w/ Interactive PG&E HelmetHere is a list of just some of our supporters:
Here is a list of just some of our supporters:
List of sponsors:100People.orgAce HardwareAlameda ElectricBogo Solar LightsButte CollegeButte County Air Quality Management DistrictCommon VisionCostcoCalifornia State Garden GrantCalifornia State University, Chico – Mary Portis Copper ConcreteEnergyseeds.comFoundation for Environmental EducationGEHome DepotLowesLutronNEEDNorthern RecyclingParadise Community FoundationParadise Garden CenterParadise Garden ClubParadise Parks and RecreationPG&ERegion 2 STEM GrantSCNACSun OvenTurningGreentv.comWells FargoThe Worm FarmMark GiraldesKathie PenceCarol PoppletonRichard PortisMicheal SpiessPat WittThe AMAZING students and parents of Evergreen 6!