Solar Panels Slated For North Campus
Before he became president of the Yes! for Environmental Sustainability (Y.E.S.) Club at North Campus, Daniel Cardona, 19, was keen on the idea of using solar panels. Club members say it had been Cardona’s dream since he was a little kid.
After the Earth Ethics Institute sent him to an environmental conference at the University of Florida, he was inspired to put his idea into action.
That idea will now become a reality after Miami Dade College gave the organization $1,000 in seed-funding to install two solar panels at North Campus. The project will be augmented by a $500 gift given to them by the EEI; the group also raised $1,100 for the project by selling snacks on campus.
Group members said the project, which will be installed between the Criminal Justice Building and Science Complex, will be completed by August
“I can’t wait for the panels to be installed,” said Jasiel Diez, 19, who took over as president of the Y.E.S. Club at North Campus this semester. “My group and I worked hard to see this goal fulfilled and seeing them make any sort of impact on our community is awesome.”
The club entered the idea for the project into the Clinton Global Initiative University, which is a national conference where students, organizations, and celebrities discuss global challenges and think of solutions, to receive the funding from MDC.
Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity. The Y.E.S. club’s solar panels will not generate electricity for the college. According to Fermin Vazquez, Senior Director of Campus Administration at North Campus, it gives back power to the grid, which is what actually gives the college power. There will also be a meter connected to the solar panels, which will show how much power the solar panel is obtaining.
The panels will be located where students can approach them. Vazquez said that there will be tours, which will give people the chance to learn about the solar panels.
“The great thing about this is that it was initiated by the students,” Vazquez said.
There’s potential for solar panels to save the College on energy costs. But two panels can’t do that. Currently, the only other Campus to utilize solar panels is the Environmental Center at Kendall Campus and four solar powered lights on one walkway at the same Campus.
Tiina Lombard, the club’s advisor said it’s about time that the school decided to set up solar panels.
“It’s a step in the right direction because we’re behind the rest of the country,” Lombard said. “Many other institutions across the country are implementing them and we’re the Sunshine State. It’ll be easier for us than most other places.”
But Florida is not taking advantage of solar power. In fact there is a big roadblock. A recent Miami Herald article reported there is actually a Florida law that restricts the growth of the rooftop solar industry. The law was written to give utilities a regional monopoly on power production, avoiding a tangle of power lines strung up by competing companies.
The Y.E.S. Club members are hoping that the solar panels will educate students and motivate them to be more green. They hope to add more solar panels on campus.
“Solar energy is a rapidly growing field, so it’s the College’s responsibility to expose students to that,” said Rachel Pappalardo, 18, the vice president of the Y.E.S. Club at North Campus.
