of two students in the Environmental Club, the solar panel project came to fruition thanks to their hard work, the generosity of the green donor, and through the commitment and contribution of academy resources. Due to the donor contribution and a rebate from the Massachusetts Commonwealth Solar Program, there should be a 100 percent return on the academy’s investment in less than four years. The return for current students will be even sooner: “The easy-to-use online interface (of the dashboard) makes acquiring information a breeze, and will enable students and teachers from Algebra II through calculus the ability to incorporate our own ‘in house’ data into the classroom,” said math teacher and alumnus Marc Dancer ’79. His colleague, physics teacher Rich Calhoun, added, “I’ve been trying to incorporate energy production and sustainability into my physics courses. Not only is it an interesting topic of how physics is applied but it is a great example of an area of economic growth that produces goods and services for the greater good and may spark an interest in students.”
Along with a new weather station, which is located in close proximity to the panels, students and faculty are able to access a “Deerfield Dashboard,” which allows them to monitor energy production and use in the Koch Center.
along albany road
One hundred photovoltaic panels are in place and harvesting energy from the sun amongst the green sedum on the Koch Center’s turf roof. A student-initiated project that was partially funded by a donor who is particularly interested in “green” projects (and wishes to remain anonymous), the panels are a visible sign of the academy’s commitment to environmental stewardship. The panels have the obvious use of gathering energy to be converted to electricity for the Koch Center, but they serve a dual purpose as well—they are teaching tools. Along with a new weather station, which is located in close proximity to the panels, students and faculty are able to access a “Deerfield Dashboard,” which allows them to monitor energy production and use in the Koch Center. Part of a data acquisition system, the dashboard shows real-time photovoltaic energy production and building energy consumption in an attractive, user-friendly format. Students can analyze how production and consumption are effected by ambient temperature, panel temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and solar irradiance (how much sun is shining on the panels). They can also view energy consumption in relative terms—kilowatts versus dollars, versus carbon, versus coal, and more. In addition to showing data in real-time, the information that is gathered can be stored in the dashboard indefinitely, so eventually Deerfield students will be able to do year-toyear comparisons. “Nationally, there’s a desire to make the data from the electrical grid more accessible to industry and consumers,” said chemistry and physics teacher Mark Teutsch. “The dashboard is analogous to Google’s PowerMeter that lets consumers track and manage home energy use while measuring environmental impact in homes or workplaces. By effectively learning about energy use patterns, Deerfield graduates become better and smarter consumers of energy.” The panels are the first renewable energy source on campus, and the latest step the academy has taken towards lowering its carbon footprint and practicing the highest possible level of environmental stewardship. Originally the idea
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