Sunny Days, Bright Students & Solar Power Education

Northern Lights’ community solar project gives students a hands-on look at energy, engineering, and possibilities.

On a bright May afternoon, Monica Ringer and her sixth-grade students from Sagle Elementary School make the half-mile walk to Northern Lights’ headquarters. Their destination is not a typical classroom. An outdoor tent is set up beside a 50-kilowatt community solar array, where sunshine, wires, motors, and friendly competition turn into a memorable lesson in energy production.

What began in 2017 as Northern Lights’ community solar project has grown into something more than a renewable energy resource. It is a place where students can see, touch, and test the concepts they learn in science and math classes.

Community solar offers a shared approach to solar energy. Instead of installing panels on individual homes, many participants subscribe to a portion of a larger solar array. Northern Lights’ project, on the north end of its Sagle campus, was the first community solar project in Idaho. It was funded through a Bonneville Environmental Foundation grant and Northern Lights’ members who voluntarily purchased units.

The student field trip program came later. It was launched in 2019 by Sandpoint High School teacher Mamie Jennings. Since then, 132 classes from six school districts in 3 states have participated. Nearly 2,900 students from public, charter, and private schools, as well as homeschool cooperatives, have visited the site. Retired Lake Pend Oreille School District math and science teacher Sandy Ross began administering the program in 2019 and continues to lead it today. After 37 years of teaching life science, physical science, and math, Sandy knows the value of hands-on learning.

“Northern Lights built their solar field so that kids could come and see it,” Sandy says. “They open up the campus and allow students to get up close to the solar array. It’s really a remarkable thing.”

Field Trip Day

The day begins with students checking out the solar-powered electric vehicle charger before settling beneath the tent. From there, Ross guides them through a discussion of renewable energy sources, including hydropower, an important part of the Pacific Northwest’s electric system. Students compare the steady flow of a river with the changing availability of wind and sunlight and begin asking the kinds of questions engineers ask: What works? What are the limitations? What problems still need to be solved?

A Northern Lights engineer joins the class to explain the grid system, identify equipment, and reinforce electrical safety, including the importance of staying away from downed power lines. Students learn that solar panels produce direct current, or DC power, while the electric grid uses alternating current, or AC power. They look at the inverter that helps make that conversion possible and the transformer that helps move power where it is needed.

For Sandy, that support reflects something special about Northern Lights. Engineers and employees take time out of busy days to teach, answer questions, and make the experience meaningful.

“There’s a unique culture here at Northern Lights,” she says.

The program is designed to be neutral and exploratory. Engineers discuss the abundance of solar energy, with at least 2,000 times more solar energy hitting the earth than humans use at any time. Students join the discussion about the possibilities it offers and the challenges that come with it.

Then students get to work. Using mini solar panels, wires, light bulbs, motors, and small speakers, they experiment with circuits and discover how small changes can make a big difference. They learn how panel angle, distance from a light source, and proper wiring affect performance. Reverse the polarity, and the motor spins backward.

Those lessons lead to 1 of the day’s favorite activities: building solar-powered cars. Northern Lights employees built a track with full-spectrum lights overhead, so the activity works even on cloudy days. Students build, test, adjust, and race their cars, measuring the distance each one travels and recording results.

The fun and excitement of learning carries back into the classroom. Teachers can use the data students collect to calculate means and medians.

“It’s way more interesting in math class when they get to use a set of data they’ve created,” Sandy says. “It’s a great connection that kids can put together.”

She also emphasizes collaboration. Scientists, she tells students, are problem-solvers who share results so others can test, question, and build on their work. In the tent and along the track, students work in groups, compare outcomes, and learn from one another.

Sandy has taught the class more than 100 times, and each field trip still brings something new. Sometimes it is a student’s shout of surprise when a light comes on or a motor spins. Sometimes it is quieter, like when a group that starts the day unsure of itself ends up building 1 of the best-performing cars.

“It’s a tremendous experience, and it happens in a half day,” Sandy says. “That makes my teacher’s heart happy.”

During the field trip, students receive sunglasses, pencils, solar calculators, and worksheets. Color-changing sunglasses double as safety equipment and a favorite keepsake. Winners of the solar car race receive prizes that Sandy admits sound like a dad joke: SunChips and SunnyD. The day often ends with students sharing their own dad jokes.

“And, oh man, have I heard some funny ones,” Sandy says with a chuckle.

The laughter is part of what makes the program memorable, but so is the commitment it takes to get students there. Field trips require planning, transportation, and time away from the classroom.

“It’s not easy for teachers to get kids out of the classroom,” she says. “I commend the teachers for making the commitment.”

For Northern Lights, the solar array is more than equipment behind a fence. It is a working example of how energy is generated, transformed, and delivered, and an invitation for students to imagine their own roles in solving future energy challenges.

Teachers interested in scheduling a solar field trip may email Sandy Ross. Field trips are available in spring and fall for groups of 5 to 30 students in 4th through 7th grades.