Walking on sunshine in Malden with grant

MALDEN — The Malden Grade School District will be getting its own solar panel, thanks to a grant from Illinois Clean Energy.

Superintendent Deb Dalton said the Malden community is invited to attend a combination celebration/health fair at the school at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The event, titled “Healthy Bodies and Healthy Environment,” and sponsored by the Bureau/Putnam County Health Department, will give community members the opportunity to see the soon-to-be installed solar panel, see how a solar oven works, learn about a variety of health services and sign up for giveaways and door prizes.

Dalton said it all began last spring, when she received a flyer from Illinois Clean Energy about the 2008 Small Scale Solar PV Program for K-12 schools. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation launched its program in 2006 to introduce the energy future to today’s students. The program awards grants of up to $10,000 of the cost of installing a new 1kW photovoltaic system to convert sunlight into electric power. To date, Illinois Clean Energy has award grants to 53 schools across Illinois, including Logan Junior High in Princeton.

To be selected, an applicant must have taken steps to make its school energy efficient including use of energy efficient lighting, and made a commitment to teach about solar energy in the classroom and in the community about the benefits of solar energy.

After learning more about the program, Dalton sent in an application.

“I agree with greening as much as possible,” she said. “Also, the staff here wants to help the environment, and we’re looking to save energy and save on costs a little bit.”

After Thursday’s program, Elmore Electric of Dover will install the panel on the gym roof. It will generate a small amount of solar energy, and Dalton said the district’s electric companies, Ameren IP and Ameren Energy, have agreed to reduce the school’s electric bill by the amount of energy generated.

However, energy production is not the main goal of the project.

“The purpose is not to save a lot of electricity,” Dalton said. “Instead, it’s to be used as a teaching tool in the schools, so students can learn more about solar energy and the good it does.”

The panel will be connected to the Web site www.illinoissolarschools.org, and students and community members can check at any time to see how much electricity is being generated.

Dalton said schools need to teach students to take care of the environment, and to teach them about all aspects of science and alternative forms of energy.

“That’s the world they going to be living in,” she said.

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