HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SolarWorld, the largest U.S. manufacturer of solar technology, today announced it has joined a campaign to rebuild a K-12 school in Vernonia, Ore., that flooding destroyed in 2007. SolarWorld will provide more than 60 kilowatts of reduced-price and donated solar panels to the rebuilding effort that aims to meet LEED platinum standards. In addition to supplying clean, renewable solar power to the school, the solar system will serve as a hands-on tool for educating students about how solar technology works.
Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America Inc., said a new Vernonia school is critical to the viability of the rugged logging community in Oregon’s coastal range. “Vernonia’s schools have been the linchpin of this special town,” Brinser said. “There was never a question in my mind that SolarWorld needed to play a pivotal role in helping to build a future-oriented, sustainable school for the community.”
Upon opening to students in the fall of 2012, the K-12 school is expected to be the first nationwide to boast LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification. SolarWorld’s polycrystalline silicon solar panels, sold at sharp discount, are expected to produce over 65,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year. SolarWorld also will donate $20,000 worth of technology for a separate solar installation, such as a covered picnic and play area at the “Tot Lot” park in front of the school.
Kenneth Cox, superintendent of the Vernonia School District, said the donation will provide a “visible and multi-functional tool for the school and visitors to learn about solar technology.” He said the school’s teachers are enthusiastic about using the solar installation as a way to bring alternative energy education to the school’s 600 students and its community.
SolarWorld also brings its relationship with the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and the National Energy Education Development Project (NEED) to the Vernonia project. FEE is a non-profit organization that has led solar installations on hundreds of schools nationwide, while NEED has developed and delivered curriculum centered on energy use, energy efficiency and new energy technologies for more than 30 years. Together these organizations will help Vernonia’s science teachers create a curriculum that brings the topic of solar energy alive for students of every grade level.
About SolarWorld (www.solarworld-usa.com)
SolarWorld is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high-quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems of all sizes, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. The group’s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. State of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs about 3,500 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX and ÖkoDAX as well as in the sustainability index NAI.