Solar panels a learning tool for Wheeler students

In addition to providing a little bit of power for the building, solar panels on the roof of Wheeler Avenue School are also providing a learning opportunity for students.

The panels, which were installed in December 2010, don’t generate enough electricity to run the lights or computers, but can create sufficient power to heat the water for the school, saving District 13 a little bit each year on its electric bill.

The solar panels are hooked up to a computer, and from there students can monitor how much energy is generated. Last year, fifth-graders chartered the amount of electricity created month by month. Not surprising, the best month was July and the worst month was January.

“January normally doesn’t have that much sunlight,” said student Alex Wong.

In 2011, the panels generated nearly 8,000 kilowatt hours of electricity for the school. Kilowatt hours is the basic unit of electric usage measurement and one of the vocabulary terms students had to learn before they started monitoring the solar panel data.

Jenna Boccasini explained that the use of solar panels is good for the environment, because less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. According to data the students collected, Wheeler’s solar panels saved 13,131 kilograms of the gas from being released into the environment through the middle of June.