It's easy to make a Datapult^sm graph showing how much power the solar panels are producing and how much energy the school is using. Just point and click on the buttons and drop down lists to select the time frame and energy information you want on the graph. Then click "Make Graph."

Want to know more about the data on the graph? Move your cursor over any of the diamonds on the graph, and specific data for that point will appear in the bar at the bottom of your browser screen. If your graph looks at more than one day, click on a diamond and Datapult^sm will create a graph for the day you picked. To change your graph or create a new one, just click on the "Dates" tab at the top of the page and you'll be able to change one or more selections and make a new graph.

The solar panel graph shows the amount of electricity flowing from the panels into the power circuits of the school, but it's impossible to know that the electrons from the panels went just into the refrigerators, or the lights or the computers. When the sun is out and everything is perfect, the graph will show peak electricity of 2.0 kilowatts (kW) which is the same as 2,000 watts. That amount of electricity will light 20 100-watt light bulbs. You might notice that the graph line sometimes goes below the zero line. How can that be if the panels make electrons and don't use them? It's because of the way the panels work and electrons move in circuits. It takes a certain amount of sunlight to excite the elections in the panels enough to flow into the school like water from a fire hose. If they aren't excited enough and are flowing only like water from your garden hose at home, and the electrons inside the school are flowing around the circuits like the high-pressure water in a fire hose, some of the inside school electrons will push out into the solar panels. Datapult^sm records that electron flow as a negative number and graphs it that way.

Under ideal conditions, the panels can produce 2 kW of electricity. BUT, what happens if snow isn't brushed off the panels? Or dust isn't washed off once in a while with a hose? Or the trees nearby grow and start to shade them? Your panels won't give as much electricity as they can unless you take care of them.

The day light graph shows how much electricity is being used by lights on two of four lighting circuits. These circuits run the lights mostly on the west side of the school. These lights use about 38 percent of the electricity used by all the lights in the school for daytime activities.

The night light graph records electricity used by indoor and outdoor lights after you go home. These lights include parking lot lights, which come on and off automatically using photocells similar to the solar panels. They sense when there is enough light for you to see in the parking lot and turn off the lights in the morning. The photocells can determine when it's dark outside and turn the lights on at night.

The total school graph shows all the electricity the school uses for computers, the lights, fans to move air around to keep the school warm or cool, and anything else that runs on electricity. We'd like to hear about how your school uses solar energy, too. If you have questions or comments about our site, drop us a line Soon, we'll have more schools on this web site so you can compare how different schools generate and use electricity.