SOLAR PANELED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Z,
PARKLAND, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

This is the story of how many years of goal setting, hard work and applied technology are overcoming previous problems with solar panels to actually, finally, and tangibly provide energy to one Elementary School Z in Parkland, Florida. The new school is 126,376 square foot located on 12 acres of land with a scheduled opening in August 2009. People in the sunshine state of Florida have been saying for years that we should harness the sun for power, but it doesn�t just happen. What made it happen in Parkland was a confluence of committed professionals and tested products. Let�s meet them:

First, we have the local interest and commitment of the City of Parkland, its elected officials and the Broward County School Board to make the choice to seek solar energy.

Next, and this is the crux of the story, is the team that takes the desire to reality. The construction company hired for its expertise for Elementary School Z is Skanska USA Building Inc, which is the #1 green builder in Engineering News-Record� first-ever Top Green Contractors surveys. I met with Mr. Ricardo Santana, VP of Operations, who is not only extremely knowledgeable, but also clearly passionate about the project.

With so many solar panels on the market, what solar panels were chosen and why? The technical answer is the AGT (Advanced Green Technologies) FlexLight PV Laminate. If that means anything to you, just skip this next section and go right to the part of the website entitled �Solar Research�. But for the rest of us, the answer is a solar panel that does not look like what you might expect. The solar panel is thin, lightweight and flexible, just a little thicker than a credit card. The top of the solar panel is dark and the underside of the solar panel is shiny silver with a mildly dimpled texture. I had to stop and say �How cool is this! How does this actually change the sunshine into electrical power for the school?�

Hypower Inc designed the solar system, meaning getting it all to work. The solar system is designed with the AGT FlexLight laminates manufactured by Uni-solar and are called PVL 136. They are �triple junction, thin-film, amorphous silicon, flexible solar laminates�.   They are lightweight weighing about 1 pound per square foot. The solar panels are made of 3 layers of silicon which captures 3 spectrums of light. The reason this is so important is that enables the solar panels to capture energy in different light exposures, such as cloudy days or dawn and dusk (even light from a full moon).

The next part of the solar system is brilliant! The solar panels are designed to adhere to the roof membrane without making any penetrations into the roof membrane. They are laminates! The solar panels are adhered directly to the roof system. This technology, which is detailed in the website section �Solar Research�, solves some of the major obstacles with solar panels of the past. The roof membrane is not compromised with holes, which could cause water leakage. The design makes them hurricane resistant in accordance with Broward County Building Code, and they are not visible except from above.

Now comes the electricity part of the solar system. Mr. Chris MacDonald of Hypower, Inc. a Fort Lauderdale based leading electrical contractor, is the hands-on dedicated man to oversee the electrical connections. The PVL 136 (136 watts) FlexLight laminates are connected electrically in series. All electrical connections are via a roof bonded �wire management system� and the series strings are connected through fused combiner boxes. The DC power from the combiner box is connected to AC grid-tied inverters. Pictures and specifications of combiner boxes and inverters are detailed in the section �Solar Research�. Basically, the electrical energy is being converted from DC to AC, so that it is usable to power the school and capable of being fed into the utility grid.

I had to ask the usual stupid questions, �What happens when it rains? Does the system store energy?� The answer is no, but when the solar system needs energy, it taps into the utility grid, which is Florida Power and Light (FPL). However, the other question and answer is more intriguing. �What happens to excess energy produced, but not used by the school? The answer is that it is fed into the utility grid. The system produces about 6 watts per square foot. It is more or less a credit and debit system. However, I have to believe that in sunny and sometimes hot South Florida, having the sun deposit a little credit into the utility grid might help with the air conditioning bill and strain for power on the hottest of days.

I have included at the end of this article the statistics provided by Hypower as to the dollar cost and environmental offsets of the solar system at Elementary School Z. That is the impressive tangible data. The intangible aspect of this new school with solar panels is best reflected in what Mr. Ricardo Santana said, �The 11 year old students are talking to the 9 year old students about the new technology in their school.� The ideas of solar energy are being transformed into the daily learning and living of the students at Elementary School Z.  CLICK HERE to access the details.