Installation began this week on a new solar energy system at Sam Rayburn High School, the largest system yet installed at any Texas public school and one of the largest rooftop systems anywhere in Texas.
Crews began the process of installing a grid of raised Soyndra solar tubing to the roof above the school's twin gymnasium complex. The tubes are designed to collect solar energy on a 360 degree basis, from all angles of the sun and from energy reflected from the roof beneath the tubing.
Other solar energy collection devices will be installed on different areas of the roof.
A similar project is planned for South Houston High School.
The systems are expected to save the district about $15,000 a year in energy costs. The systems will also serve as a science learning model for students at the two high schools.
The project has been made possible by a partnership between the Pasadena ISD and the Houston Advanced Research Center, a non-profit organization based in The Woodlands. Contractor for the project is Ignite Solar, LLC, a Houston-based company that specializes in the design of commercial and large-scale solar energy projects.
Workers lay out a grid of Solyndra solar energy tubes to the roof of Sam Rayburn High School.
Under a blazing September sun, Grace Blasingame, science content specialist at Sam Rayburn High School, checks the progress of the solar energy project with Rayburn principal Robert Stock.
