the sky clears after downpours over the Town of Hempstead’s Energy Park at Point Lookout.
Thursday, August 8, 2013 EmPower Solar presented Family Solar Night At the Town of Hempstead’s Energy Park at Point Lookout.
The rain couldn’t dampen the festivities as over a dozen student teams found out the winners of EmPower’s student contest.
Touted as possibly the largest collection of electric vehicles in this area. Includes entries from Tesla, Toyota, Ford and BMW.
David Schieren, CEO of EmPower spoke on how his experiences with the Solar Decathlon shaped both his thinking and the impetus for the team approach to EmPower’s student contest.
“We want to inspire an interest” in renewable energy with the next generation, he said.
“Solar is 0.02% of our energy mix but we’re growing very fast.
By 2035 it will be 100% of new power additions to the grid.
“There are going to be alot of great, high paying, white collar jobs coming in this industry.” he said.
Greg Sachs, COO At EmPower said “Seeing these students soon to be in college is so exciting and so inspiring.”
The Student Team Winners- click their name to see their Video Entry for the Contest:
Team STATE, First Place Winners
1st place. Team STATE (Students Taking Action for Tomorrow’s Environment) from Avalon Park Preserve in Stony Brook. They will be joining the EmPower Solar team at Solar Decathlon in California in October. Each also receives a $1000 scholarship.
Team members include Jake Welde, Ward Melville High School; Elaina Zodiatis, Smithtown High School; and Sara Kaufman, Mount Sinai High School. Their advisor was Rebecca Kassay.
Second Prize Winners, Team Solar Generation, With Empower’s Community Programs Manager Tara Bono, CEO David Schieren and COO Greg Sachs
Second Place. Team Solar Generation each won a $400 Scholarship and dinner with EmPower Solar.
The team members include Jane Jang, Bronx High School of Science; Juno Lee, Bronx School of Science; Jonathan Kim, Northport High School; and Jeff Kim, Stuyvesant High School. Their advisor was Sung T. Kim.
Third Place Winners Team Solar Squad Anne Chen, Ann Lin and Amelia Makhanlall
Third Place. Solar Squad from Farmingdale High School includes Ann Lin, Anne Chen, and Amelia Makhanlall. Their advisor was Lorie Scheinwald. This team garnered the most YouTube likes out of all contestants.
Tesla EV and what it’s owner calls the “Frunk” (front trunk)
David Schieren told the students, “We encourage you to maintain a relationship with us”.
EmPower enlisted the help of numerous Long Island luminaries to help decide the winners.
Tara Schneider, shares her wealth of knowledge with visitors on a tour of the Energy Park.
After the awards came an informative and enlightening tour of the Energy Park, given by Tara Schneider. Ms Schneider works for the Town of Hempstead and helped bring the energy park to fruition from research stages, through development and now through operations.
A veritable fountain of knowledge, she explained what went into it, how (and how good) it all works and answered everyone’s questions about the project.
Wind turbine directly above! shhh- you couldn’t hear it over the sounds of traffic on the road!
My favorite tidbits:
- The hydrogen they are making costs the equivalent of about $65 per fill up of their vehicles. That’s not that much more, considering we are talking about storing renewable energy for use on demand- not just as electricity but as fuel!
- The two wind turbines have hit, struck or otherwise hurt exactly ZERO birds.
- The Energy Park has its own website coming soon!
A great night it was. It was personally inspiring to see the engagement, interest and efforts of the students, the EmPower team and the Town of Hempstead crew along with members of the community.
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