Renewable Energy Accessible (REAL) Lab
Inside a chain-link fence across the street from the gymnasium, the reflective silver arrays of the Renewable Energy Accessible Lab (REAL) glint and shine in the sunlight. The photovoltaic panels, evacuated tube arrays and parabolic trough collectors that make up the lab convert sunlight into energy that provides the Northwest Campus with hot water.
But the REAL Lab does more than provide energy; it is also a teaching tool. At the adjacent Solar Pavilion, instructors, students and visitors can view an interactive presentation to learn how these new technologies work. Visitors are introduced to “The Carbonator,” a dirty villain who gets power from pollution when energy is produced from burning fossil fuels. The heroes who must conquer “The Carbonator” are the cleaner solar energy technologies of the REAL Lab’s array.
“The REAL Lab is a way to get sustainability into classes in multiple disciplines and make it a focus for students, instead of just talking about it,” said the lab’s creator, retired Associate Vice President for Facilities Bill Reese.
“The lab highlights the practical application of math and science in real-life and in technical career fields such as building construction,” said Associate Vice President Vilma Fuentes. “Students can see the different solar technologies, have conversations about how they work, page through the program in the pavilion, and apply what they have learned in class assignments. We have one instructor who is going to use the lab to teach students how to calculate the energy footprints of buildings. Those kinds of projects are almost impossible to assign in most places where precise information about a building’s square footage, the precise materials used in construction, and the origin of this materials is difficult to obtain. Here at Santa Fe College, all that information is available to our students.”
The lab also offers a way to introduce visiting elementary and high school school students to solar technologies and to the career opportunities that exist in scientific and technical fields. The interactive lab has a direct application for courses in the STEM fields. Instructors in other academic disciplines are encouraged to consider how they might use the REAL Lab in their courses.