Residential Solar Power and the Physics Teacher

The roof of my house sports one of the largest residential photovoltaic arrays in Ohio. It produces all of the electricity for my house and family of four. With state and federal incentives, it cost less to install than the price of a new car. It will pay for itself within the warrantee period. A picture of my house with solar panels is the background on my classroom computer. I am the physics teacher at Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio. I don't need a formal curriculum. Sooner or later my students start asking questions. They even ask the exact same questions that adults do. The inverter for my PV system sends performance data to my computer. I post this on my website, which takes it into my classroom. This sparks conversation on a whole variety of topics, from sun angles to energy, electricity, technology and climate studies.