students acquire renewable energy skills on high school campus

Photovoltaic roof array inspires students to learn more about renewable energy and the environment

Location: Boston, MA USA Client: Media and Technology Charter High School

Background:
Funded by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Green Buildings Program, the Media and Technology Charter High School (MATCH School) has incorporated many sustainable design features into its building. A high standard of excellence in academics and personal responsibility characterizes the culture at the school. The high expectations extend to the innovative technologies used in the design of the building itself.

Solar Design Associates engineered and installed a flat-roof photovoltaic array, then designed a sophisticated data monitoring system as a teaching tool.

Special Features:

• Installed atop a conventional roofing membrane is an array of 144 tiles, each one comprised of two photovoltaic laminates mounted to an extruded polystyrene backer board.
• The tiles interlock in a tongue and groove fashion and are secured around the perimeter with a ballasted curb, requiring no mounting penetrations, while protecting the longevity of the roofing membrane.
• Additional tile blanks were used to create walkways through the array for rooftop equipment access
• A 3-phase inverter interfaces the photovoltaic system to the school's electrical distribution system.

Outcome:

• Students have access to a living example of renewable energy systems at work right in their school.

• The system, in conjunction with other energy-efficient efforts at the school, renders signficant energy savings for the school system, as well as displacing by-products of fossil fuel consumption, such as carbon dioxide.

• Continuing Solar Design Associates' commitment to encouraging the acceptance of photovoltaics by the established building trades, SDA worked with IBEW Local 103 electricians to install and commission the system, also creating a documentary and training video to be used by the union.

The system is also integrated into the school's curriculum, acting as a teaching and research tool for students. Solar harvest is monitored and logged with a data acquisition system (DAS), also designed and installed by Solar Design Associates, to allow students and faculty to analyze the array output under different atmospheric conditions as part of their studies.

Solar Design Associates has over twenty years of experience in academic settings, and has completed dozens of renewable energy projects for schools over the years. We enjoy the challenge of working with school and college task forces and building committees. Contact us and let us know how SDA can assist your school community to realize its own unique vision.

• MATCH School website
• MATCH School wins Northeast Green Building Award
  
  
  

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