Students go to school every day, yet they rarely see one part of the building: the roof. 

However, on Oct. 30, 24 Eco Club members had the opportunity to experience such a perspective during their guided tour of the school roof and its solar panels. 

The context? The Eco Club is currently participating with eGauge in the ReNew Our Schools energy education and conservation competition, in which schools aim to conserve energy on campus and learn about how energy is produced. 

“We’re competing against Thunder Ridge and Castle View High School right now,” Eco Club sponsor Jenny Wills said. “One of the options is to do a tour of an energy producing facility, and luckily, we have one in our building.”

According to the Department of Energy, the sunlight that touches the Earth’s surface in an hour and a half can be converted into enough energy to sustain global energy consumption for a full year. Solar technologies, such as solar panels, are used to convert sunlight into usable energy.

The tour was led by an employee from E Light Electric, the company that maintains the school’s solar panels and keeps them functional. From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., Eco Club members explored the roof and learned about how the solar panels work to create renewable energy, as well as what causes possible shutdowns of the system. 

Olivia Fang ‘26 was one of the Eco Club members who participated in the tour. She and other members have already undergone activities with the Eco Club that allowed them to understand the tour’s content better. 

“In the past, I have participated in the eGauge contest,” Fang said. “And we did this by making posters, telling teachers to save energy by turning the lights off when they’re not using the room and turning off their projectors when they’re also not in use.”

However, this is the first time the Eco Club has ever done a tour of an energy production facility.

“We did look at the HVAC system, heating, ventilation system, and the boiler in the building is also part of this competition, but [this is] something we’ve never done before,” Wills said. “We’re looking at some different ways we’ve done this competition, but we’ve done different strategies each year.”

This tour is just one step to increasingly exposing students to the world of renewable energy and environmentally friendly practices. 

“Our goal on campus is to educate people and try to improve our sustainability,” Wills said. “So we’re working to let everyone know about energy conservation tips, but also just recognizing [that] there are things that you may not have realized are already in place, and keep being aware of how those things can be used.”