The Solar installation at Ferndale High School is a 2.4 Kilowatt solar array consisting of ten 240 watt panels. The panels were made locally in Bellingham at Itek Energy. The project was purchased through a grant from Puget Sound Energy. PSE’s Renewable Energy Education Program (formerly called Solar Schools) and voluntary Green Power Program have provided $394,139 in grants to fund 23 educational solar-power projects in Western Washington during the last seven years. In the Spring of 2011 Ferndale was lucky enough to be chosen as one site for that year. Construction was completed in the Fall of 2011.
The Solar Array joins our 2.4 Kilowatt Skystream wind turbine that was installed in the Spring of 2010 as our second renewable energy source on campus. All the power produced from both the Solar Array and the Wind Turbine is Net Metered, meaning the power generated is fed back into the grid and the school district receives a credit for all power produced.
Please note that these are residential sized installations that could power a fairly efficient home, but are in no way intended to power the entire school. Instead they are real, working installations to gather data and use as instructional tools as part of our Power and Energy course at Ferndale High School. If you would like more information about The Power and Energy course, our Wind Turbine or Solar Array, please contact Mark Schneider 383-9326, Drew Sampson 383-9327 or John Young the CTE Director at 383-9316.
