By Mark Boshnack
Staff Writer
SIDNEY _ The future looks bright for Sidney
High School
science students
wanting to learn
more about a cutting-
edge technology.
Thanks to
equipment donated
by Silicon Solar
of Bainbridge, students are learning how to use
an on-demand solar hot water system. Some
students learned how to put the unit together
while others tested the efficiency
of solar heating
and finding it impressive.
By using the equipment,
students will learn about
how solar power can help
with sustainable living,
said biology teacher Todd
Paternoster, who originally
contacted the company
about the system.
He was working Tuesday
with 11th-grade environmental
science teacher
Jay Waltz.
“It’s pretty cool how
our school is getting into
it and experimenting with
it,” said student Christina
Romano.
She checked the temperature
on the storage
tank and found it was heated
to about 190 degrees
Fahrenheit by the evacuated
tubes that catch the
sun’s rays.
“I was surprised how
hot it was,” she said.
Using a thermometer,
Dakota VanValkenburgh
found that the water
that entered the system
through a garden hose at
about 60 degrees came out
at about 150 degrees.
“It was really something,”
he said about how
hot the water was. “I didn’t
think you could heat water
with solar energy.”
Waltz said he would like
to see the system developed
to heat greenhouses
or barns. Dairy farmers use
a lot of hot water, he said,
and although it wouldn’t
replace a conventional
hot water heater, it could
supplement it.
Science teachers at the
school are developing a
solar club that will involve
students in all departments
working with the technology,
Paternoster said.
Matt Brown, a sales
manager with Silicon, said
the unit has a value of
about $1,000.
It was donated because
both of the owners, brothers
Matt and Adam Farrell,
are graduates of Sidney
High School, as are many
of the company’s employees.
Many of them have
relatives at the school,
Brown said.
Paternoster said he is
resigning effective July 1
at Sidney, after a 10-year
teaching career, and will
join the company to develop
educational programs
around the country.
He wants to devote his
attention to sustainable
living, he said.
