Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has selected 19 Northern and Central California schools to participate in the inaugural year of the Solar Suitcase Program. Under the program, students will build portable solar units, share their commitment to sustainability by participating in local projects, and have an opportunity to share the solar suitcases with students in Kenya.
Announced at We Day California earlier this year, the program is part of the company’s $250,000 sponsorship to provide sustainable energy project opportunities for local high schools. California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom helped launch We Day California 2015, and is a key partner in supporting the PG&E’s Solar Suitcase Program.
“I’m thrilled that PG&E is using solar to help students create lasting and sustainable action in California and abroad. This is a unique opportunity for students to combine environmental stewardship and technology, and to then share their experiences globally with students in Kenya,” said Newsom.
The solar suitcase, created by We Share Solar and supplied by the nonprofit Green Tech, is a small, portable photovoltaic lighting system, powerful enough to illuminate a small room. PG&E is supplying 100 solar suitcase units to 19 high schools throughout Northern and Central California. Green Tech will offer trainings on how to assemble the suitcases so that students can learn firsthand the basic principles of clean energy technical education.
Encouraging students to “act locally and think globally,” PG&E’s program includes both a local sustainability project and international community service opportunity. Examples of local sustainability projects include park cleanups, water and energy conservation teams, and community gardens. The international opportunity offers students from the 19 selected schools the chance to join a humanitarian solar suitcase delivery mission to orphanages, schools and medical clinics in Kenya with international charity Free the Children. Four students will be selected based on videos they submit of their own local sustainability project success stories. This unique global opportunity for local high school students adds a new dimension to PG&E’s commitment to education and renewable energy.