1. Watt’s Up?! Solar Panel Activity  Goal: Have students calculate the percentage of energy provided by the solar panels to the school  Part I: Collect energy usage data in the school with a Watt’s Up meter  Part II: Compare estimated energy usage with actual usage from an Excel energy bill  Part III: Calculate the energy production of solar panels and compare this to energy consumption of the school

2. Watt’s Up?... Results  Students collected data and reported a total of 242,447 kWhr of energy consumed in the month of April  Excel energy bill stated 167,038 kWhr of energy used  We WAY overestimated our energy use – after discussion we decided it was an error in how we estimated power rating for light bulbs.

3. Watt’s Up?... Results  Using Deck Monitor website, students were able to calculate the energy produced by solar panels in a typical day.  1566.7 kWhr for a typical day in April  This is only 7% of our school’s energy needs!!  On a sunny day – we would be able to produce more like 10% of our energy needs.

4. Helpful Hints for Teachers…  Make sure to give teachers a heads up that you are coming!  Make sure to build in time during the class period to share data and do calculations – this will save you time in the long run. Use Google Docs!  Reserve a computer lab for the day you calculate energy produced from solar panels using Deck Monitoring program