AP Environmental Science (APES) students are using solar panels in the classroom in order to study the functionality of solar panels and the science behind them.

The class has been using a strong light bulb in lieu of the sun, which allows them to control the use of the solar panels in class and to prevent complications involving weather.

The panels are new to the class, and the students have just started using them.

“Mostly [we have done] little labs that we started today[Wednesday],” junior Valeria Quintana said. “We use them to measure the angles of objects and the light that is reflected from a certain position. “We haven’t done anything big yet.”

The class received these solar panels about a month ago.

“The MVLA Foundation supported them and got them for us,” APES teacher Greg Stoehr said. “We’re using them to analyze how much energy they create with different variables. The variables can be the amount of light, the distance from the light source, whether or not different color lights collect different amounts. We can measure the voltage, so we can see the effect of changing any variable we want, such as the angle and light source.”

[Photos by Ciera Pasturel]