What:
A net-zero campus is a school campus that produces little to no carbon emissions at the school and its surrounding property. This also means that it only consumes as much energy as it produces. This will reduce Kihei Charters carbon footprint, and eventually save money.
How:
Kihei Charter would go net-zero is for the South Maui Learning Ohana(SMLO) to install a battery back-up system. This way, the extra power that the school doesn't use in the daytime would be stored for use another time, or for when the sun isn't out or when the weather is not good, limiting the panels usefulness. Another big contribution Kihei Charter could do to go net-zero is by shutting off the power at the end of the day to conserve energy and not use any unnecessary resources. This is because the solar panels only cover the power the school consumes for the day, and the power that the school uses at night comes from Hawaiian Electric.
Kihei Charter has also taken some steps into going net-zero like installing solar panels on the rooftop, canopy carport, and on the school side so that we can have enough solar energy for the day and not use any different energy sources. Kihei Charter has also started going zero waste to minimize the garbage the school itself produces.
Solar System:
The school has solar panels on the rooftop, canopy, and on the school side. When solar panels absorb energy, they absorb energy as DC(direct current). The energy needs to be AC(alternating current), so it is put into an inverter that converts the energy into the correct current so it can be used. There are 3 inverters, one for each colony of solar panels. These are all different sizes. The rooftop panels produce 74.725 kilowatts at a DC, and then 54 kilowatts at AC. The canopy carport panels produce 64.05 kilowatts of energy DC, and then 64 kilowatts AC. The school side panels produce 128.10 DC, and then 90 kilowatts AC.
When:
We believe that Kihei Charter could achieve net-zero from 2022-2023! SMLO is currently in the process of installing the battery on campus, and hope to have it installed within a year! The school already has more than enough solar panels to power the school daily, and if it doesn't it has available energy stored in the battery.
Cost:
It starts at 12 million to build a net-zero building, but it should cost way less because we are retrofitting a current building. The cost would include the typical solar bill, the cost to use and install the battery system, etc. A battery backup system can cost 10,000-20,000 to install. After a while, the cost to be net zero would be cheaper then running on fossil-fuel based resources because wind and solar are technologies and natural resources, not fuels. They also need little to no maintenance. The power used at night would also be deducted from the bill, making it cheaper, as well.
CO2:
Over the past 800,000 years, climate change has been happening. Until the Industrial Revolution, when CO2 in the atmosphere spiked. Today, CO2 is the highest it has ever been in the past 800, 000 years. The goal of this project would be to prevent/sequester CO2 emissions created by Kihei Charter on a daily basis. Solar panel powered schools produce 80% less carbon emissions then using a fossil-fuel based energy resource. With the battery, we would be conserving clean energy so we don't have to rely on fossil-fuel based energy resources for power when the solar panels aren't useful.
Benefits/Drawbacks:
Benefits:
- More affordable.
-Cleaner and more efficient energy.
- Doesn't rely on fossil-fuel based energy.
Drawbacks:
-It would be hard to change the water system at the school. We would have to do something like install a well, which isn't ideal.
-Finding the funding.
A net-zero campus is a school campus that produces little to no carbon emissions at the school and its surrounding property. This also means that it only consumes as much energy as it produces. This will reduce Kihei Charters carbon footprint, and eventually save money.
How:
Kihei Charter would go net-zero is for the South Maui Learning Ohana(SMLO) to install a battery back-up system. This way, the extra power that the school doesn't use in the daytime would be stored for use another time, or for when the sun isn't out or when the weather is not good, limiting the panels usefulness. Another big contribution Kihei Charter could do to go net-zero is by shutting off the power at the end of the day to conserve energy and not use any unnecessary resources. This is because the solar panels only cover the power the school consumes for the day, and the power that the school uses at night comes from Hawaiian Electric.
Kihei Charter has also taken some steps into going net-zero like installing solar panels on the rooftop, canopy carport, and on the school side so that we can have enough solar energy for the day and not use any different energy sources. Kihei Charter has also started going zero waste to minimize the garbage the school itself produces.
Solar System:
The school has solar panels on the rooftop, canopy, and on the school side. When solar panels absorb energy, they absorb energy as DC(direct current). The energy needs to be AC(alternating current), so it is put into an inverter that converts the energy into the correct current so it can be used. There are 3 inverters, one for each colony of solar panels. These are all different sizes. The rooftop panels produce 74.725 kilowatts at a DC, and then 54 kilowatts at AC. The canopy carport panels produce 64.05 kilowatts of energy DC, and then 64 kilowatts AC. The school side panels produce 128.10 DC, and then 90 kilowatts AC.
When:
We believe that Kihei Charter could achieve net-zero from 2022-2023! SMLO is currently in the process of installing the battery on campus, and hope to have it installed within a year! The school already has more than enough solar panels to power the school daily, and if it doesn't it has available energy stored in the battery.
Cost:
It starts at 12 million to build a net-zero building, but it should cost way less because we are retrofitting a current building. The cost would include the typical solar bill, the cost to use and install the battery system, etc. A battery backup system can cost 10,000-20,000 to install. After a while, the cost to be net zero would be cheaper then running on fossil-fuel based resources because wind and solar are technologies and natural resources, not fuels. They also need little to no maintenance. The power used at night would also be deducted from the bill, making it cheaper, as well.
CO2:
Over the past 800,000 years, climate change has been happening. Until the Industrial Revolution, when CO2 in the atmosphere spiked. Today, CO2 is the highest it has ever been in the past 800, 000 years. The goal of this project would be to prevent/sequester CO2 emissions created by Kihei Charter on a daily basis. Solar panel powered schools produce 80% less carbon emissions then using a fossil-fuel based energy resource. With the battery, we would be conserving clean energy so we don't have to rely on fossil-fuel based energy resources for power when the solar panels aren't useful.
Benefits/Drawbacks:
Benefits:
- More affordable.
-Cleaner and more efficient energy.
- Doesn't rely on fossil-fuel based energy.
Drawbacks:
-It would be hard to change the water system at the school. We would have to do something like install a well, which isn't ideal.
-Finding the funding.