So as to bring about a significant number of participants at the inaugural year of the Solar Suitcase Program, Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E) selected 19 Northern and Central California schools as participants.
Under this program, students will learn how to build portable solar units, have a deeper understanding towards commitments towards sustainability, participate in local projects, and have an unique opportunity to share the solar suitcases that they have created with students in Kenya.
The program was announced at the We Day California earlier this year. It is part of PG&E’s $250,000 sponsorship to provide sustainable energy project opportunities for local high schools. Gavin Newsom, California’s Lieutenant Governor helped launch the ‘We Day California 2015’ program. He is also a key partner in supporting the PG&E’s Solar Suitcase Program.
“I’m thrilled that PG&E is using solar to help students create lasting and sustainable action in California and abroad. This is a unique opportunity for students to combine environmental stewardship and technology, and to then share their experiences globally with students in Kenya,” said Newsom.
The solar suitcase, which was created by We Share Solar and was supplied by the Green Tech, a NPO, is a small portable photovoltaic lighting system, powerful enough to illuminate a small room.
PG&E will be supplying 100 solar suitcases to 19 high schools throughout Northern and Central California. Green Tech will also be offering hands-on trainings on how to assemble the suitcases so that students can learn firsthand the basic principles of clean energy technology.
“PG&E is a champion of education, providing nearly $70 million to local schools throughout Northern and Central California over the last decade. The Solar Suitcase program allows us to pair that commitment with our focus on a clean energy future. By educating students on the importance of solar, we can both inspire them, and provide them with valuable tools for making an impact in their local communities and around the world,” said the senior vice president of corporate affairs at PG&E, Helen Burt.
The program helps students to “act locally and think globally.” PG&E’s program includes both a local sustainability projects, such as park cleanups, water and energy conservation teams, and community gardens, and international community service opportunities which includes joining humanitarian solar suitcase delivery mission to orphanages, schools and medical clinics in Kenya with international charity Free the Children.
Four students will be selected based on videos they submit of their own local sustainability project success stories. The following schools have been enlisted in PG&E’s Solar Suitcase Program:
| School Name | City | |
| Stockdale High School | Bakersfield | |
| Inspire High School | Chico | |
| Konocti Education Center High School | Clearlake | |
| Cloverdale High School | Cloverdale | |
| Buchanan High School | Clovis | |
| Herbert Hoover High School | Fresno | |
| Cesar Chavez Middle School | Hayward | |
| Tennyson High School | Hayward | |
| Yosemite High School | Merced | |
| Oakland High School | Oakland | |
| Orcutt Academy High School | Orcutt | |
| Folsom High School | Rancho Cordova | |
| Foothill High School | Sacramento | |
| Salinas High School | Salinas | |
| Willie L Brown Jr. Middle School | San Francisco | |
| Lincoln High School | San Francisco | |
| Leland High School | San Jose | |
| Amos Alonzo Stagg High School | Stockton | |
| Templeton High School | Templeton | |
