Salt Lake charter school goes solar

Education • Arts Academy adds 56 energy- and money-saving panels.

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Students at the Salt Lake Arts Academy applaud the completion of a 56-panel solar-energy project at their school in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system.

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Students perform an improvised dance routine at the Salt Lake Arts Academy during an assembly announcing the completion of a 56-panel solar-energy project at the school in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system.

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Arts Academy Science teacher Michael Clark demonstrates the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system.

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Arts Academy students Ayden Armstrong and Carter White working with the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system.

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Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Students at the Salt Lake Arts Academy applaud the completion of a 56-panel solar-energy project at their school in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Students perform an improvised dance routine at the Salt Lake Arts Academy during an assembly announcing the completion of a 56-panel solar-energy project at the school in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Arts Academy Science teacher Michael Clark demonstrates the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Students perform an improvised dance routine at the Salt Lake Arts Academy during an assembly announcing the completion of a 56-panel solar-energy project at the school in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Arts Academy students Ayden Armstrong and Carter White working with the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Arts Academy students Ayden Armstrong and Carter White working with the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system. Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake Arts Academy students Ayden Armstrong and Carter White working with the monitoring system for the school's new 56-panel solar-energy project, in Salt Lake City Friday November 15, 2013. The 14,000-kilowatt solar energy system is expected to 19,870 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to the energy use of two average homes in Utah. Rocky Mountain Power awarded Salt Lake Arts Academy up to $49,450 to install the solar energy system.

The Salt Lake Tribune

· November 15, 2013 4:24 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Friday was a cloudy, dreary day, but the Salt Lake Arts Academy celebrated the sun anyway.

The charter school and its nearly 400 students gathered to mark the installation of 56 solar panels, courtesy of a $49,450 grant from Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program.

The school, 844 S. 200 East, expects to save more than $2,000 on its energy bills, according to a news release, and the fifth- through eighth-graders will learn about renewable energy.

The release says students will be able monitor the project's output at a station in the eighth-grade science classroom.