The Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering at UNLV donated a portable solar power generator system to the Clark County School District on Monday, July 30, so that district pupils can learn more about alternative energy.

The unit, which uses photovoltaic devices, was designed by UNLV engineering professors and students and then built by a company in San Diego. The $10,000 project was paid for through a grant by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The unit is designed to be moved from school to school so that students can learn first hand how the sun's power can be harnessed to produce electricity.

"This is an example of a positive partnership involving federal, state, and local governments," said Robert Boehm, the UNLV mechanical engineering professor who oversaw the project. "DOE provided the money, we at UNLV used our skills to design the unit, and teachers from the school district developed the lesson plans that their colleagues can use when the unit visits their schools.

"All this was done so that students in the K-12 system can see for themselves what is involved in converting the sun's power into electricity," Boehm said. "Clearly, it is becoming increasingly important in these days of rising electricity costs to study alternate ways of producing energy."

The high school teachers involved in the project were Jenelle Hopkins of Centennial, Ceyril Paulus of Palo Verde, and Beverly Hart of Valley.

"The idea for the project came as a result of work the university was doing for DOE," said Yahia Baghzouz, a UNLV professor of electrical engineering who helped in the development of the design.

Boehm said the federal agency has a number of portable solar power generators stationed at remote locations on the Nevada Test Site where environmental monitoring needs to be conducted, but where power lines are not available. Finding those units expensive and hard to relocate, DOE gave UNLV engineers a $120,000 grant to develop units that were less expensive and easier to move and, as part of that grant, set aside $10,000 for a unit to be used in local schools, he explained.

"Our students benefited, too, because some of them were able to work on the project," Boehm said, noting that Leonard Sanidad, who graduated from UNLV with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering this year, was particularly involved in the project as an undergraduate.

For more information on the project, call Boehm at 895-4160