Emergency Shelter Schools Selected for $10M Solar Energy Program

COCOA, Apr. 27, 2010 – Ninety public schools in Florida have been competitively selected to participate in the SunSmart Schools E-Shelter (Emergency Shelter) program, administered by the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC). Each school will receive a solar electric system with battery backup – complete with installation, educational resources and materials, training for school personnel, and professional development for teachers.

The 10-kilowatt solar electric system will provide power to the shelter during outages for critical energy needs such as lighting, communications and essential medical equipment. During normal operations, it will offset electricity costs to the school and reduce greenhouse gases. Funding for the $10 million state program came from federal economic stimulus funds.

The 90 finalist schools (listed below) were selected from the 213 applications submitted, representing 45 of the 67 counties in Florida.

“Ideally, we wanted to have each county in Florida represented, but we’re pleased to have shelters spread throughout the state, with at least one shelter in each of the counties that applied,” said Susan Schleith, project manager of the SunSmart E-Shelter program.

Schools were ranked based on demographics, emergency shelter needs, partnerships, and renewable energy education and outreach plans. Twenty alternate schools were also selected. Final acceptance into the program is dependent on a successful visit to the school by the FSEC engineering and emergency management teams to determine site suitability. In the event any of the finalists are deemed not suitable for installation, or if additional funding is obtained, alternate schools will move to finalist status.

The next stage of the process is to determine who will install the solar systems. The University of Central Florida will select the contractors through a formal bid process, expected to begin in the next few weeks. Contractor selection is expected to be completed by mid-June.

For more information about the program, visit www.fsec.ucf.edu/go/sunsmart.

Site Name (In Order by County) City County
University of Florida Gainesville Alachua
A. Crawford Mosley High School Lynn Haven Bay
Jinks Middle School Panama City Bay
Starke Elementary School Starke Bradford
Endeavour Elementary Magnet School Cocoa Brevard
Bayside High School Palm Bay Brevard
Apollo Elementary Titusville Brevard
Everglades High School Miramar Broward
Kingsway Elementary School Port Charlotte Charlotte
Pinecrest Elementary School Immokalee Collier
Eden Park Elementary School Immokalee Collier
DeSoto Middle School Arcadia DeSoto
Abess Park Elementary School Jacksonville Duval
Arlington Middle School Jacksonville Duval
LaVilla School of the Arts Jacksonville Duval
Bellview Elementary Pensacola Escambia
Lipscomb Elementary Pensacola Escambia
East Gadsden High School Havana Gadsden
Havana Middle School Havana Gadsden
Trenton Elementary School Trenton Gilcrest
Hernando High School Brooksville Hernando
Explorer K-8 Spring Hill Hernando
Avon Elementary School Avon Park Highlands
Fred Wild Elementary School Sebring Highlands
Young Middle Magnet School Tampa Hillsborough
Durant High School Plant City Hillsborough
Knights Elementary Plant City Hillsborough
Oslo Middle School Vero Beach Indian River
Sebastian River High School Sebastian Indian River
Jefferson County Middle High School Monticello Jefferson
Lafayette High School Mayo Lafayette
Carver Middle School Leesburg Lake
Fruitland Park Elementary School Fruitland Park Lake
Island Coast High School Cape Coral Lee
Veteran’s Park Academy for the Arts Lehigh Acres Lee
Oak Hammock Middle Fort Myers Lee
Deerlake Middle School Tallahassee Leon
W. R. Tolar K-8 Bristol Liberty
Madison County Central School Madison Madison
Bayshore Elementary School Bradenton Manatee
Braden River High School Bradenton Manatee
Robert H. Prine Elementary School Bradenton Manatee
Vanguard High School Ocala Marion
Dunnellon High School Dunnellon Marion
West Port High School Ocala Marion
Port Salerno elementary Stuart Martin
Warfield Elementary Indiantown Martin
South Dade Senior High School Homestead Miami-Dade
North Miami Senior High School Miami Miami-Dade
South Miami Senior Miami Miami-Dade
Key West High School Key West Monroe
Yulee High School Yulee Nassau
Yulee Middle School Yulee Nassau
Baker School Baker Okaloosa
Antioch Elementary School Crestview Okaloosa
Memorial Middle School Orlando Orange
Westridge Middle School Orlando Orange
East River High School Orlando Orange
Ventura Elementary School Kissimmee Osceola
Discovery Intermediate School Kissimmee Osceola
Poinciana Elementary School Poinciana Osceola
Atlantic Community High School Delray Beach Palm Beach
West Gate Elementary School West Palm Beach Palm Beach
Palm Beach Gardens High Palm Beach Gardens Palm Beach
James W. Mitchell High Trinity Pasco
River Ridge Middle High School New Port Richey Pasco
Wesley Chapel High School Wesley Chapel Pasco
John M. Sexton Elementary School Saint Petersburg Pinellas
Fairmount Park Elementary St. Petersburg Pinellas
Douglas L. Jamerson, Jr. Elementary St. Petersburg Pinellas
Palmetto Elementary School Poinciana Polk
Dr. NE Roberts Elementary Lakeland Polk
Haines City Senior Haines City Polk
Avalon Middle School Milton Santa Rosa
Russell Elementary Milton Santa Rosa
PineView School Osprey Sarasota
Atwater Elementary School North Port Sarasota
Lyman High School Longwood Seminole
Geneva Elementary Geneva Seminole
C.A. Moore Elementary School Ft. Pierce St. Lucie
Bayshore Elementary School Port St. Lucie St. Lucie
Taylor County Elementary School Perry Taylor
Champion Elementary Daytona Beach Volusia
DeLand High School Deland Volusia
Pine Ridge High School Deltona Volusia
Riversink Elementary Crawfordville Wakulla
Crawfordville Elementary School Crawfordville Wakulla
Freeport High School Freeport Walton
Vernon High School Vernon Washington
Chipley High School Chipley Washington

About FSEC

The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at 321-638-1015.

UCF Stands For Opportunity
The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 3rd largest in the nation with more than 53,500 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu.

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15 thoughts on “Emergency Shelter Schools Selected for $10M Solar Energy Program

  • March 31, 2011 at 1:47 pm
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    It’s good that they are planning ahead to handle emergencies. The solar unit will be good most of the time but what about when it’s overcast? They should look into adding some battery backups or maybe a diesel generator or two.

  • April 2, 2011 at 9:48 am
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    The link for more information doesn’t work, I just get an error message. Did this project go ahead in the end or was it binned?

    Katie.

  • April 4, 2011 at 10:52 pm
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    These schools would really benefit a lot with the “solar program”. It’s just the right move to consider the kind of climate changes the world is dealing with at present. So what is the status now of all these schools?

  • April 7, 2011 at 3:40 am
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    It is really great to see funding going towards school to promote green energy. I feel like we should already be using solar power at a way higher capacity, but the more projects like this are funded and rolled out after being a success, the sooner we will be less dependent on fossil fuels.

  • April 10, 2011 at 10:28 am
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    The solar program is one great alternative for the utilization of fossil fuels. It is costly but come to think of it, it doesn’t harm the environment. Moreover, it hastens the progression of global warming.

  • April 10, 2011 at 9:55 pm
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    @Joseph Johnson – – – You are right, I think “solar systems” need to be implemented immediately, not just in schools, but even in households they may be a bit expensive but they can help the world get better. With all things happening in the world right now, we badly need an alternative.

  • April 12, 2011 at 6:24 am
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    quoted “It’s good that they are planning ahead to handle emergencies. ”
    this is exactly means being ready.

    Greg of Brisbane
    Visit Us Hypnosis

  • April 13, 2011 at 7:45 am
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    @ Heber – Am I right in saying that solar energy works even in overcast conditions? Even if that’s not the case. I guess being in Florida there’s a high proportion of direct sun anyway.

  • April 15, 2011 at 8:58 am
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    Nice list, the solar energy programs should have a greater success than the others. Its also cool to see that no education level groups are left out, from elementary to high school.
    Thanks for sharing.

    Best regards.

  • April 15, 2011 at 2:11 pm
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    With the soaring rates of traditional electricity nowadays, solar power systems are highly recommended. It’s good news that the FSEC department of the University of Central Florida has started utilizing solar energy for emergencies, specifically in school shelters. This move should be replicated by other institutions as soon as possible.

  • April 18, 2011 at 10:25 am
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    Hello, this looks really interesting. Its good to see that more and more people are starting to use natural energy. Lets hope that this will also have the effect of making it a habit for the young students to save energy.

  • April 18, 2011 at 11:25 am
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    @Heber: It does say that each school will receive battery backup as part of the package.

  • May 4, 2011 at 12:21 pm
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    It’s about time that solar energy programs be implemented in different schools. It’s a better option compared to the use of fossil fuels. It’s beneficial to the environment as well as to humans.

  • September 5, 2011 at 9:35 pm
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    Solar energy gives hope to schools that can’t keep up with the electricity bills. Not only that it helps in promoting green living but helps students learn efficiently as well.

  • October 6, 2011 at 10:58 pm
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    The Solar Energy Program should reach the entire country not just in a single state. The price of oil keeps on increasing like crazy so it’s just the right time to find other alternatives. If only oil companies don’t care about income that much but unfortunately they do.

    Richard Barrick,
    Manager: Flooring Contractor Tampa Bay

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