NYC students learn about renewable energy through school rooftop solar panel installations
NEW YORK — New York City schools are harnessing solar technology to power buildings and engage students.
Solar panels blanket the rooftops of 60 public schools, providing clean energy for the city and giving students a chance to learn about climate change and renewable energy up close.
At Thomas Edison High School in Queens, a recently-completed solar installation generates enough electricity to meet 65% of the school’s energy consumption — while also providing a unique learning opportunity for students enrolled in the school’s solar energy vocational track.
“There’s a newfound interest in our curriculum,” said principal Moses Ojeda. “Now with the addition of solar panels, they [the students] start to see the relevance.”
The program at Edison is part of what officials at the city Education Department and Department of Citywide Administrative Services say has been a mutually beneficial partnership.
In 2016, the Administrative Services Department began surveying city-owned buildings to find spaces suitable for installing solar panels, with the goal of producing 100 megawatts per year of solar energy by 2025.
So far, the city has built solar panels on 110 buildings, including 60 schools, producing 16 megawatts of energy a year — enough to power 2,600 homes.
While the city solar installation initiative got underway, the Education Department began expanding its efforts to teach about climate change and renewable energy in schools, partnering with the nonprofit Solar One to offer professional development for teachers and starting a solar energy vocational track that now operates in 14 schools.
DOE officials say 1,350 teachers and 3,200 students have taken advantage of the solar education offerings.
Edison High, one of the city’s largest Career and Technical Education high schools, started its solar program in 2018 as a way to help students keep up with the changing job market, Ojeda said.
From the start, the program took advantage of the partnership with the city’s solar panel initiative to give students the chance to accompany workers up to school rooftops and watch the installations up close.
“They really enjoyed the experience, working alongside the contractors, going up on the roof with all the safety gear,” said Edison High solar energy teacher Anthony Cooper.
Students from Edison’s solar program didn’t get to directly participate in the installation on their own school’s rooftop because most of the work happened over the summer.
But they’ve studied the blueprints for the panels closely this year, taken frequent field trips up to the roof, and plan to help with the upkeep of the solar panels, Cooper added.
Officials from both the Education and Administrative Services Departments said they plan to keep the partnership going as the city works to meet its renewable energy production goals.
“Solar installations on our public schools help the city reduce emissions while providing valuable learning opportunities for students,” said Citywide Administrative Services Department Commissioner Dawn Pinnock. “New York City is leading the way by generating clean energy on City properties and is on target to reduce emissions from government operations 50% by 2030.”
Schools Chancellor David Banks added that “when a young person graduates from a New York City public school they should have the skills and experience needed to get a good job and be a part of revitalizing our city.”
At Edison High, educators hope the experience from the solar program will help students no matter what field they choose.
“Everything we do in the solar installations really makes them more confident and employable,” Cooper said.
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