On a brisk April morning atop a NAIT parkade, a pair of Alternative Energy Technology students in hardhats, safety vests and steel-toed boots gingerly walk a two-metre solar panel across knee-high metal racking. Another pair waits to secure it in place, following the instructions of the electrical contractor overseeing the installation of an array big enough, under ideal conditions, to power an average home for roughly two weeks.
Power generation, however, isn't the main point of the exercise. This array, supported by RBC Foundation, is a learning opportunity - several, in fact.
For one thing, it's a chance for these students - more than a dozen gathered to install 17 panels - to get out of the classroom and work on a task they'll encounter in future jobs. Once this first phase of the array is complete, they'll then be able to collect power generation data to help them learn to design these very systems. Future phases of the project promise even more lessons.
In the meantime, the installation also lets them show off burgeoning skill sets. Liam Logan was part of the second-year class that helped install the 34 panels of an adjacent, companion array late last fall. Afterward, the same contractor asked if he'd submit a resumé.
"I was a little in shock," says Logan. He thought the work would be a good way to test himself, and maybe start making industry connections. He was right. Logan starts as a residential solar installer with the company this summer.
This story was originally featured in techlifetoday, click here to read the full article.
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