For
Immediate Release
“Public
invited to Athens Middle School Solar Installation Open house”
September 19, 2006
Contact: Loraine
McCosker, 740-589-4070 or Ben Appleby, 740-707-4977
The public is invited to
see Sierra Club volunteers install an exciting new solar photovoltaic system at
the Athens Middle School, 55 West State St.
Starting at 10 a.m., you’ll be able to see the solar equipment up close
and learn how all the parts fit together into a system that yields usable
electricity from sunlight.
At 1:30 p.m. there will be a press conference with comments from
Mayor Rick Abel, Democratic Senator Candidate Sherrod Brown and other local
leaders on how renewable energy and energy efficiency can lead us into a new
energy future.
To
complete this installation the Appalachian Ohio Group of the Sierra Club
received a $4,000 grant from the Athens Foundation and about $9,000 worth of
solar panels from the Foundation for Environmental Education. Third Sun Solar
and Wind Power, an Athens-based design/build contractor has donated professional
design and project management services.
The 2,000-watt photovoltaic system is expected to deliver 2,000
kilowatt-hours or more of electricity per year. This system will save taxpayers
money, by lowering the school’s energy costs by about $200 a year. This energy
will be produced without generating any of the greenhouse gases that contribute
to global warming.
In
addition,
As
part of this project Ohio Energy Project has provided solar-specific curriculum
materials to help students and teachers meet state-mandated science standards.
To assist with this an Internet based monitoring system will be installed.
Students, as well as anyone with an Internet connection, will be able to log on
and check out the systems performance as well as see totals for the air
pollution components offset by the solar array’s output.
This
event serves as the kick off to the Sierra Club’s Cool City Campaign. Tired of
a failure in leadership at the state and federal levels, the Appalachian Ohio
Sierra Club has begun efforts at the local level to fight global warming. “We
know there are ways to fight global warming and grow our economy. Its not just
one or the other.” Said Ben Appleby, a local Sierra Club member and solar
installer. “If we saw the downsides to traditional electrical production
things would look drastically different.” The American Lung Association
attributes 24,000 premature deaths a year to burning coal for electrical power.
The
Cool Cities campaign will have the Sierra Club advocating at the community level
for positive changes that will address global warming, save tax dollars, and
educate the public about how powerful their daily actions and decisions really
are. Chicago, Austin,
across