Waldorf School of the Peninsula opened a new solar electricity system earlier this month, in an effort to continue greening its campus.
In a partnership with SolarCity, the Los Altos-based school — which serves kindergarten through high school-aged students from throughout the region, including Mountain View — installed new solar panels to reduce energy demand and dependence on fossil fuels. The new solar array follows in the footsteps of Waldorf’s many other green programs.
“We said, ‘Let’s move ahead with the solar.’ We decided to do the whole enchilada,” said Lucy Wurtz, Waldorf School’s development director.
Last spring, Waldorf School became the first Los Altos school to become certified as a Santa Clara County Green Business. The Bay Area Green Business Program awarded Waldorf this distinction after it met a checklist of criteria: reducing toxicity in cleaning supplies, composting, improving recycling, installing skylights and switching to higher-efficiency fluorescent lighting.
“We’re making a huge effort to green our campus wherever we can,” Wurtz said. “It’s important because we care about the future of our children and our planet. We have an obligation to model that for our children.”
In addition to its tangible changes made to combat global warming, Waldorf School attempts to promote environmental causes by instilling a sense of dedication in its students. The school incorporates its campus garden into the curriculum, teaching students to care for nature through active participation.
In elementary school, students engage in simple activities such as pulling weeds. As they grow older, the curriculum becomes more complex, involving botany lessons and advanced gardening skills. The gardening class is a required subject for students from first through eighth grade.
“Our philosophy is that the children have to fall in love with the earth in order to be able to save it,” said Wurtz. “We create the system so that’s the natural thing to do.”
The new photovoltaic system is the result of a power purchase agreement with SolarCity, which provides clean solar energy for residential homes and businesses in California. Last year, the company engaged in a bulk-rate solar installation deal with Mountain View property owners.
“It’s really investing in new technology that’s there,” Wurtz said. During the first year of the solar installation, the cost will equal the amount of money the school pays for electricity through PG&E, she said; it will cost less than PG&E in subsequent years.
The school unveiled the new solar panels at its annual Holiday Faire on Dec. 6. The solar modules, made up of photovoltaic cells, convert sunlight to DC power, which in turn is converted into standard electricity.
Through its green renovations, Wurtz said, Waldorf School hopes to encourage others to make similar changes. “We want to be a model for the community,” she said.
E-mail Kelly Truong at ktruong@mv-voice.com
