In the context of science education, however, lighting up classrooms isn't nearly as important as illuminating minds.

The panels are part of the Utah Solar Schools Initiative started by Renewable Synergy LLC. The initiative installed its first solar photovoltaic panels atop the roofs of publicly funded charter school Entheos Academy January 2007 in partnership with a grant from Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky Program, which promotes renewable energy sources. In partnership with Gardner Alternative Energy Systems last August, the company also installed solar panels atop the Dolores Dore Eccles Health, Wellness and Athletic Center building at Westminster College.

East High recently became the third Salt Lake Valley school tapping into a small amount of solar power. Renewable Synergy plans to install another set of panels soon at Park City's Ecker Hills Middle School.

The bulk of the company's business comes from installing solar photovoltaic panels and wind energy systems in businesses and homes, President Brian Smith said. Adding schools to his client list gave his business exposure, to be sure, but has also brought alternative energy to light in classrooms, where Smith hopes students will consider careers in engineering, renewable energy, environmental sciences and green building.

All three solar panel systems installed at East record "greenhouse gases avoided" in pounds of carbon dioxide emissions that would have been released into the atmosphere had the school instead relied on traditional methods of generating electricity.

"The idea is to get students thinking about renewable energy sources and help them make changes in their lives," Smith said.

Soon after he got word of the possibility of solar panels on the roof of his high school, East science teacher Thomas Kemp developed an additional project that enabled students to build a greenhouse capable of generating its own energy.

The greenhouse first used two photovoltaic solar panels and one thermal-solar panel to power lights, a fan and heat the floor. Students now are working to find a material that will trap as much passive heat entering the greenhouse as possible. Thanks to PTA sponsorship, the class plans on attaching a small wind generator to the structure that will feed into a set of batteries and an electricity current inverter.

"We've got almost all the alternative energy bases covered with this one project: wind, passive, photovoltaic and thermal-solar," Kemp said.

Perhaps the most important lesson students have learned, he said, is the limits of photovoltaic solar panel technology. Unlike solar-thermal panels, which heat water used for radiant heat, photovoltaic panels take photons from the sun to create a flow of electrons convertible into energy. They're also expensive and inefficient. The future of alternative energy depends on more efficient, affordable photovoltaic technology.

"I've told them that these are the technologies we need to work on," Kemp said. "What we're trying to do is just get kids excited about studying science."

bfulton@sltrib.com