Delegates Kilgore, Pillion, Morefield and Senators Chafin and Carrico announced an educational partnership between Dominion Energy’s Solar for Students Program and school districts in the Coalfields. The program will serve students in Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise counties and the City of Norton.
The Solar for Students program provides students the chance to observe and learn firsthand about harnessing solar energy from a solar array. Each year, participating public schools and educational organizations receive a 1.2 kilowatt solar system that converts sunlight into electric power, educational materials, and training for educators.
The program also offers the capability to connect students in Southwest Virginia to all other participating schools in the Commonwealth. Students will be able to track the generation of electric power by viewing their data online and can challenge other participating schools in Northern Virginia, for example. Through this online platform, students will have the opportunity to benefit from a shared experience and learning from one another through their own observations.
The NEED Project (National Energy Education Development) will administer the educational program while Sigora Solar, a Virginia-based company, will coordinate installation of the equipment and provide technical support.
The site selection process included each school district submitting a list of potential locations for consideration. Based on review of those sites to determine which schools met specific technical and logistical criteria to ensure maximum optimization, the Program and its partners selected the following sites:
· Buchanan County—Grundy High School
· Dickenson County—Ridgeview High School
· Lee County—Lee County Career & Technical Center
· Norton—John I. Burton High School
· Russell County—Honaker Elementary School
· Scott County—Twin Springs High School
· Tazewell County—Tazewell High School
· Wise County—Union Elementary School
Over the coming months, the Program and its partners will work with each school district to begin the process of installing equipment and implementing the curriculum. Since 2015, Dominion Energy’s Solar for Students program has been implemented in 10 locations throughout the Commonwealth. This expansion into Southwest Virginia will nearly double the size of the program’s footprint.
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