by Jessica Reeder

At first glance, the town of Nixon looks like any other small town in Nevada. In a few short weeks, however, Nixon will be able to claim that it has more solar panels per person than any other town in the United States.

That includes the largest school-affiliated photovoltaic installation in Nevada: a 160kw array (technically, a group of three arrays) behind the Pyramid Lake Junior-Senior High School. That solar installation will offset a significant percentage of the school’s yearly energy costs, allowing those resources to be spent on students instead

Nixon is a tight-knit community, and as part of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation, it’s a community that sometimes struggles for funding, explained school principal Randy Melendez. “There’s not a lot of jobs out here, so… how do we train our people to go out and compete for jobs off the reservation?”

The growth of renewable energy provides one possible answer. “The resource of land is one of the positive things we have out here,” says Melendez. Installing solar arrays on that land may bring more jobs to the community, as well as a new source of income.

“Just by this project coming out to the reservation, not just our students but the community is asking a lot of questions,” said Melendez. “I’ve attended Tribal Council meetings that go from seven to midnight… they’re looking for ideas. Any time a project like this comes out, they’re willing to share ideas on how it operates and how it can benefit the tribe.”

Some local residents are getting firsthand knowledge in solar technology, and following in the footsteps of fellow tribal member Wacan Waci Blindman, by working on the crew that is constructing this array

Their participation affects not just the greater community, but the kids on an individual basis. School dean Joe Esposito thinks it makes a difference in students’ career outlook. “They see the guys working on the crew and say, ‘that’s my brother’ or ‘that’s my cousin’ and they start to say ‘oh, maybe that’s something I can do.’”

“We’ve never really had the chance to be so hands-on,” principal Melendez explained. “The whole idea is to bring this stuff out of the classroom and not make it so boring, to get it out of the book so the kids can go out and see it.

Last Thursday, the Pyramid Lake students had a chance to do more than watch: during a special school event, they got the opportunity to help install panels in their own array. First, Tom Price of Black Rock Solar led the students in a discussion of global warming and renewable energy, during which Lance, a student volunteer, portrayed the Earth by staggering under a load of “greenhouse gasses” in the form of black sweatshirts.

After that vivid demonstration (which left Lance soaked in sweat), the student body met behind the school for some hands-on solar instruction.

Construction Manager Richard Scott and crew members Matt Deluge and David Lasky explained to the group what it’s like to work as a solar installer, emphasizing the growth potential of the industry. “Green energy’s about to explode,” Deluge told students, “and you can be a part of it.”

Volunteer students then split into groups and took turns setting rows of solar panels on their racks. Before long, the array was reflecting the blue sky as row after row of panels fell into place. While the array will still take weeks to complete, students learned that hanging solar panels isn’t as difficult—or as time-consuming—as it may seem.

The Pyramid Lake School installation is being built with help from NV Energy’s “SolarGenerations” program, which provided a rebate to help offset the cost of the installation. The school will also be consulting with the “Sure Bet for Schools” program, an NV Energy service that helps public and charter schools assess their needs, save energy and reduce costs.

“We’re really trying to educate the students, and ourselves too,” explained principal Melendez. Renewable energy will be incorporated into the curriculum, from science to native studies classes; it will also be a continued topic of discussion within the tribe.

Well, the Earth Day weekend of April 24 was a big one for Black Rock Solar!
Over that weekend, we sponsored the beer garden at the Los Angeles Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI). An odd pairing, you might say, solar power and sandwiches, but we think it’s a match made in heaven. Kind of like bread and cheese.

See, we got to help the event be able to offer beer, and in return got a nice tasty slice of donations to support out educational and outreach efforts.

“The Grilled Cheese Invitational (GCI) is the largest, craziest, and most exciting Grilled Cheese cooking contest in the country and is the best thing to happen to sliced cheese since sliced bread! The GCI promotes an almost scary pursuit of perfection in a Grilled Cheese Sammich and allows for amateur and professional chefs to compete side-by-side in the hopes of becoming a true Grilled Cheese Champion.”

In 2009 Black Rock Solar also sponsored the event, on a similar but smaller scale. 2010′s GCI doubled in size, and we stepped up our game, too:

As luck would have it, when our table was mobbed with people, we didn’t get a chance to break free and take snaps. Here is our awesome team, awaiting the 8,000 people to come through the gates, most of whom wanted beer!

Big thanks to our three beer donors, without whom the beer garden could not have thrived as it did. What goes better with a perfect grilled cheese, than some of the best brews around?!

Lagunitas Brewing

New Belgium Brewing

Stone Brewing

(we assure you the only Arrogant Bastard there was the beer)
We are so grateful to have been a part of this year’s GCI. We had a blast talking alternative energy with as many people as we could. If you missed us, feel free to drop us a line at contact [at] blackrocksolar [dot] org. We’d love to chat with you.
The best news is that, as a result of the generosity of these donors and the Grilled Cheese Invitational, and you, if you were there with us at the event- we raised enough money to provide an open training workshop in Reno, NV this past weekend. At this training, almost 50 new solar installers received advanced training and are now eligible to sit for the licensure exam (there is such a thing in NV!). All because of the love of beer and cheese. We’re pretty happy with the results.

Kudos to Amani Loutfy and Rose Barnes, who sacrificed their weekends on the altar of beer and cheese for the cause of education and helping grow the solar industry!