Project Description

Demonstrating the use of solar energy to reduce air pollution and thus create healthier schools and other buildings.

About 70 students, plus about 10 teachers and parents, will visit Titanwall facility near the Springbank Airport just outside of Calgary. The students are from Camrose, Alberta (Our Lady of Mount Pleasant Junior/Senior High School, organized by teacher, Carol Breitkreutz) on Monday April 26 from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. Then they will leave for Pincher Creek to visit the wind farms.

In preparation for the student’s visit, we have the following three demonstrations.

1) Solar hot dog cooker. Students will cook their own hot dogs for a little treat. The school will pay for the food and condiments.

2) Guided tour of plant and solar building.

3) Concentrating solar collectors.

This last demonstration will consist of having 25 students holding mirrors to direct the sunlight to targets including bursting balloons, melting candles, setting matches on fire, etc. This demonstrates the power of concentrated sunlight.

This presentation is to emphasize the potential of using solar energy to power our civilization and thus reduced our dependence on fossil fuels. As we know, burning fossil fuels create climate change and pollution. A school designed with solar power will not need to burn fossil fuels and thus will be a healthier school.

Prof. Tang Lee, University of Calgary