{"id":22877,"date":"2017-12-21T10:53:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T15:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=22877"},"modified":"2022-03-16T12:18:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T16:18:36","slug":"creighton-university-energiplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/creighton-university-energiplant\/","title":{"rendered":"Creighton University Students \u2018Grow\u2019 Second EnergiPlant to Power Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A group of students at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, has successfully <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.creighton.edu\/publicrelations\/newscenter\/news\/2017\/november2017\/november32017\/energiplantnr110617\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">built a second EnergiPlant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8212; a photovoltaic system and USB charging station where students can power their devices and socialize on campus. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This new EnergiPlant looks like a 12-foot tall metal flower, and was the culmination of the group\u2019s coursework for the university\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.creighton.edu\/ccas\/energytechnologyprogram\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Energy Technology Program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which is touted as \u201ca very unique program exploring the critical field of energy in a collaborative, hands-on environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Creighton Energy Technology Program\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0wkbZekcYRQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each bloom on the flower <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">doubles as a wind turbine, and the four metal leaves are embedded with solar panels that together produce about 300 watts of power. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cplant\u201d is positioned near a major walkway on campus and between two benches lined with six USB ports for students to stop and charge their electronic devices. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis second \u2018plant\u2019 serves as a beacon of sustainability on our campus for students, staff, faculty and the community,\u201d said <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/physicsweb.creighton.edu\/content\/faculty-and-staff\/physics-faculty\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Andrew Baruth<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, associate professor of physics, who teaches the Energy 131 course. \u201cAs a device charging station, along with seating, it invites students to choose an outdoor location for studies and gathering with no loss of access to energy. At the same time, signage on the EnergiPlant works to promote education of sustainable energy production.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-22884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Students-Installing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"663\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The project was created as the major assignment in the Energy 131 course, which is the first course freshmen students encounter within the Energy Technology Program. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course begins with a weeklong retreat that takes place before freshman year and continues for a few weekends in the first semester as part of the major construction project. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The retreat consists of hands-on electronics education, including: building circuits that include photovoltaics, working on an 85 kW solar array, inspecting wiring, measuring production, and repairing any identified issues. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After this year\u2019s retreat, students came together to start construction on the final project &#8212; the EnergiPlant &#8212; which was sponsored by the Omaha Public Power District, and used components parts supplied by PrimoWind, a company based in California.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cStudents do all of the siting, as well as the assembly and wiring of the parts, which are manufactured by PrimoWind,\u201d said Baruth. \u201cIn working with PrimoWind, I identified all assembly components that would be academically advantageous to my students and ensure those components remain \u2018un-wired\u2019 or un-assembled upon delivery. The final construction took approximately 16 hours.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Energy 131 has incorporated a major project for the past six years, identifying renewable energy technology that will be both interesting to students and academically challenging. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ccas.creighton.edu\/news\/solar-structure-home-quad\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first EnergiPlant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was built on campus as the construction project by Energy 131 students last fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both the retreat and the project provide an integral and practical exercise for students to see solar and wind power at work, said Baruth in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nathan Adams, a sophomore studying financial planning and sustainable energy science, agrees with the sentiment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s probably been the most rewarding class I\u2019ve taken at Creighton so far, and that\u2019s saying a lot because we are challenged and given practical applications here,\u201d Adams said in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adams also believes that the practical experience helps with job interviews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cTalking to potential employers about internships, I\u2019m able to talk not simply about what I\u2019ve learned in classrooms or read in books, but about the working knowledge I\u2019ve acquired and the practical application of that knowledge,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThat\u2019s what has made this project so rewarding for all of us.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of students at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, has successfully built a second EnergiPlant &#8212; a photovoltaic system and USB charging station where students can power their devices and socialize on campus. This new EnergiPlant looks like a 12-foot tall metal flower, and was the culmination of the group\u2019s coursework for the university\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":22886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[637,322,233,230,229,643],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-energy","category-creighton-university","category-sustainable","category-news","category-lead-stories","category-university-action"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg",830,533,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging-224x144.jpg",224,144,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg",830,533,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg",830,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg",830,533,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg",830,533,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Natalie Colarossi","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/author\/natalie-colarossi\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A group of students at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, has successfully built a second EnergiPlant &#8212; a photovoltaic system and USB charging station where students can power their devices and socialize on campus. This new EnergiPlant looks like a 12-foot tall metal flower, and was the culmination of the group\u2019s coursework for the university\u2019s&hellip;","featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Creighton-University-Solar-Charging.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}