Published by Oakland Press: Saturday, April 10, 2010
Upland Hills School in Oxford is the first of two Michigan schools to receive a 10KW Solar Array.
Energy Works Michigan awarded the 10KW Solar PV system to a school dedicated to conserving energy and restoring the environment. The system is up and running and already saving energy at Upland Hills.
The Michigan Green Schools has bestowed its highest honor and designated Upland Hills School an official Michigan Green School at the Evergreen Level.
Visitors can learn about the new solar energy system at the school’s Earth Day Celebration at 2 p.m. April 22, at Upland Hills School, 2575 Indian Lake Road.
Energy Works Michigan was awarded a $3.5M grant by the Michigan Public Service Commission to administer the Michigan Renewable Schools Program, a two-year project bringing energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements and education to multiple public and private K-12 schools throughout Michigan.
Energy Works Michigan was launched by partner nonprofit corporations Recycle Ann Arbor, The Ecology Center, and Conservation Services Group. Together, they are educating the next generation so they can fully contribute to meeting and exceeding the 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets.
Renewable energy is not a new concept at Upland Hills School. In 1973, the school installed a 2KW wind generator that was featured in National Geographic’s School Bulletin and World magazines. Students and staff have created solar greenhouses, rainwater harvesting systems, and built a theatre from recycled foam coffee cups. The early experiments at the school led to the creation of the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, a leader in teaching people about how to live lightly on our earth.
The Ecological Awareness Center’s building is a model of integrated design and integrated energy sources that is one of the state’s designated demonstration sites. Students at Upland Hills are actively involved in learning about living systems as integrated wholes.
From the “Bioengineers” class to researching arsenic water contamination, students are learning about environmental problems and how to actively come into a “right relationship” with these systems.
“Our new Photovoltaic array is a working symbol that proclaims a new era is beginning to dawn,” the school said in a statement. “These 48 PV panels quietly convey that we can produce electrical energy without polluting our earth, and at the same time make our world more secure. Upland Hills School is dedicated to introducing successive generations of school-aged children to the creative possibilities and potentials that will be needed to transform our current system into a life affirming, respectful and more harmonious culture.”