APS to Provide Solar Awareness and Education for Students
PHOENIX, Jul 31, 2012 -- BUSINESS WIRE
As part of the APS Solar for Schools Program, students at
more than 30 K-12 Arizona schools will come back from summer
break to find their classrooms powered by solar energy. In
addition - and perhaps more importantly - the students will have
the opportunity to learn about solar power thanks to educational
kiosk displays provided by APS and project partner AlsoEnergy,
an industry-leading provider of energy monitoring systems.
Through the Solar for Schools Program, APS designs, builds,
owns and maintains a photovoltaic solar system on K-12 schools
at no upfront cost to the school district. APS recently
contracted with AlsoEnergy to provide energy performance and
production monitoring data and education kiosks on the schools.
"The APS-owned portion of the Solar for Schools Program
provides an uncanny opportunity for schools - located primarily
in rural areas of the state - to take advantage of the sun's
power without dipping into their school budget," said Tony
Tewelis, APS Director of Technology Solutions. "Adding the
educational kiosks has taken this program to another level. The
students will learn what solar panels can produce at different
times of the day and see how much electricity their school is
consuming. We're helping to power classrooms for the future
leaders of our communities."
The educational kiosks that APS has selected are AlsoEnergy's
PowerLobby displays, customizable kiosks that are placed inside
each building to show data such as sun tracking, kilowatt-hours
saved and information about how much money the school is saving
on its electric bill. Teachers will have access to the data and
the ability to create science lessons about how energy is
produced and used.
"Not only is APS producing clean energy for the state through
this program, they will provide cutting-edge solar education to
students from ages five to 18," said Robert Schaefer, CEO of
AlsoEnergy. "The utility also will receive information through
our energy management services that can compare operation
between sites and detect underperforming components, providing
real-time information to help them better serve their
customers."
Schools participating in the program have contracted with APS
to secure a fixed utility rate for 20 years. For more
information about the APS Solar for Schools Program, visit
aps.com/solar.
APS, Arizona's largest and longest-serving electricity
utility, serves more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the
state's 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the
principal subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).
SOURCE: APS
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