Climate change is a tremendous problem that has been affecting our world for millenniums. It is important for people to know how they are contributing and how they can help reduce the effects. Kirkland gets its energy from Puget Sound Energy (PSE). PSE produces its electricity with 60 percent fossil fuels and these fossils fuels release greenhouse gases, which in turn contribute to the warming of our Earth. A great mitigation to this is solar panels.

As students at the International Community School in Kirkland, Sonia Sheth, Vanathi Govindasamy and Daniel Mouncer researched the possibility of implementing solar panels on newly built schools in the Lake Washington School District (LWSD), specifically the rebuild of Peter Kirk Elementary School. While researching, they found costs of the solar panels on Kirk Elementary based on a 10 kW system and how much electricity Kirk uses annually. In addition, they found the pros of solar panels, including the fact that they are environmentally friendly, and also found the cons, including that they have an expensive up front cost. Moreover, they researched and introduced the idea of Tesla’s solar roof on schools. With that, Sonia, Vanathi and Daniel presented to LWSD representatives, Forrest Miller and Jed Reynolds about their ideas.

Regardless of what happens next Sonia, Vanathi and Daniel will continue to promote the installation of solar panels on schools. When building a school, why not go solar? It not only is a great renewable resource, but one day will save our environment. As solar panels are becoming more common, and with prices going down, they all hope that in the future solar energy will further be developed and installed in schools around the nation.

Sonia Sheth, Vanathi Govindasamy and Daniel Mouncer,

International Community School, Kirkland