Click here to go to the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Solar for Schools page or see below to go directly to specific documents and webinars/slides.
The Philadelphia Solar Energy Association (PSEA) hosted 3 webinars to dive into different aspects of the Solar Schools Toolkit.
Here are the recordings and slides for each. Enjoy!
DOE circulates the Toolkit through its Schools Newsletter!! - Click here to learn more
Solar for Schools Grant Program (S4S)
Pennsylvania now has a Solar for Schools grant program and has allocated $25 million this year. Proposals can be submitted until January 31, 2025. Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted, so don't delay! One of the things the reviewers will be looking for is whether or not schools are using the solar system's data in the classroom. PSEA has curriculum and lesson plans to meet that criteria:
Bring solar energy into the classroom with middle school math and science lessons. Analyzing the data from the system itself, students will learn how the school is generating electricity onsite, how solar photovoltaics converts sunlight to electricity to save money, reduce pollution and improve energy security for your school. These lessons plans will help students learn how to convert kilowatt hours into dollars saved, carbon emissions avoided and internal combustion engine (ICE) cars taken off the road. By monitoring the school’s solar system on a regular basis students will learn the seasonal variation in solar generation, and the influence of weather conditions, cloud cover, time of day and other variables on the solar system’s performance. PSEA will be adding to this initial set of lesson plans by the end of November, 2024. All of PSEA’s curriculum is aligned with the PA STEELS standards.