The Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC has been an impressive educational experience for many children and even adults. Most visitors don’t even know about it until they get to the museum. They then find out that 10 percent of the museum is powered by solar energy. There’s a Solar Exploration Station in the museum. Those visiting it can shine lamps on the solar panels to light up art galleries in the middle of the station. It’s quite a show when everyone can see the work of solar panels in action.
This station is one of the first outreach projects for SCE&G. It’s a success story too. Just four years ago, the museum was awarded a federal stimulus grant of $213,521 for the solar panels. They had 177 solar panels installed and it now produces 53,000 kilowatt hours of energy a year. This is about 10 percent of the power the museum uses.
The museum hopes to teach youth how powerful and environmentally friendly solar energy is, so they can grow up to understand the critical need for more solar powered buildings and homes. The museum has developed lessons for the children, and even has activities they can take home with them. One of the activities shows children how powerful the sun is by having children place something such as a rock on construction paper. After putting the construction paper in the sun with the rock on it for a few days, the children notice the sun faded the paper around the rock.
The success of the museum just shows how possible it is for solar energy will have a huge place in future homes and buildings. It’s not only environmentally friendly, but it saves money on energy costs. For more information on solar panels for your home or business, please contact us! We’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have! http://solaroptimum.com/contact.php
