By Rod Walton, EnergyTech Senior Editor
Kansas City, Mo.-based energy engineering and construction firm Black & Veatch helped fund and complete a solar canopy installation at a lab built to facilitate STEM learning and opportunities for area high schoolers.
The new solar canopy was installed at Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab in Kansas City. Operation Breakthrough is a long-running non-profit child and family development center providing education, health, parenting and emergency service programs.
The Ignition Center expands Operation Breakthrough’s services to high schoolers. It offers learning opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, all widely seen as crucial to future job needs in the U.S. and globally.
The solar canopy installation at the Ignition Lab was made possible by a consortium team comprised of Black & Veatch, Sun Partners International, JE Dunn, MRIGlobal, and RisingSun Solar.
The Ignition Lab solar canopy has a DC capacity of 39.75 kW (34.6 kW AC) and includes two SolarEdge inverters. The array has 150 Canadian Solar modules.
“It is humbling to collaborate with Operation Breakthrough and others to develop, fund, and complete this exciting new solar project at the Ignition Lab that will positively impact our community for years,” said Keith Small, Black & Veatch Associate Vice President. “The new Ignition Lab provides a comprehensive living laboratory environment for students, furthers STEM education, and creates opportunities to reduce opportunity gaps.”
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce obtained the space for the Ignition Lab through his Eighty-Seven and Running foundation. The NFL star has said the Ignition Lab is a safe haven for area youths to learn skills for future careers.
-- -- --
(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can reached at [email protected]).
