4/7/03

HANDS-ON PROJECT FOR SLU STUDENTS - Students in Professor of 
Environmental Studies Alan Schwartz' class Energy and the Environment 
at St. Lawrence University have installed a photovoltaic array 
to collect and produce solar energy, at a 110-acre tract of land 
that the department and the University maintains as an 
ecologically sustainable landscape near campus. The array that 
was set up, part of which is shown in the photo, will provide 
about 1 kilowatt of electric power; the system will power much 
of the electricity needed for the farmhouse that is on the tract. 
In addition, the system is "tied in" to the existing electric 
"grid," meaning that when the house uses more power than can be 
produced, Niagara Mohawk will provide power, and conversely, if 
the system produces more power than is consumed, it will be sold 
back to the "grid." Niagara Mohawk will pay the University the 
same for each kilowatt/hour of electricity as they charge. Students 
in future energy classes will monitor efficiency improvements at 
the house, as well as the output of a solar system. The class has 
been assisted in the project by Kirk Herander, of Vermont Solar 
Engineering. (Photo by University Photographer Tara LaFredo)


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