Boys Town going solar - The Jewish Standard

Considering the extensive attention to the April 8 once-in-28 years blessing of the sun, your readers will be interested to learn that Boys Town Jerusalem will seize this historic moment to launch a campaign to transform its entire 18-acre campus to solar power. Once completed, Boys Town will be the first school in Jerusalem to exclusively utilize clean energy.

A solar-powered (photovoltaic PV) system will be installed on a 500-meter (547 square yards) area on the roof of the BTJ administration building. During the daylight hours, the system will generate DC-power electricity that will be fed to special inverters to convert the electricity to AC current, compatible to the voltage levels on Israel’s national power grid. This system will be tied to the Israel Electric Corporation power grid, which will supply power to the school in the event that consumption is higher than that being generated. Excess power generated by the BTJ solar system will be sent onto the grid for use by others.

Boys Town’s going “green” will be reinforced by a special “green” curriculum component that will stress Torah/Talmudic/Rabbinic sources for appreciating and protecting the environment. Students will be encouraged to offer additional suggestions of how to further make the school and its campus even “greener.” Boys Town’s dean, Rabbi Moshe Linchner, noted that the project will have a ripple effect since the school’s almost 900 students live on campus and will take their “green” lessons back to their respective homes and communities.

Boys Town has created a “Solar Society” to raise the funds for this project, with donors being recognized on a special solar powered illuminated plaque at the school.

Interested persons can call me at (800) 469-2697 or e-mail rgray@boystownjerusalem.org.

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