ONEIDA CO., N.Y. — A solar-thermal display unit was delivered in early June to Oneida-Herkimer-Madison (OHM) BOCES to be used as future educational tool to show and explain how the sun can be used to make and use hot water for residential, business, and agricultural applications.
Mary Wrege, Resource Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Oneida County, initiated this long-term loan of the display unit to help students learn the connections between improved environmental awareness, understanding of relevant economic considerations of installation, and to become aware of the actual components used in the renewable energy systems.
This CCE/OHM BOCES partnership seeks to connect students to the business of agriculture in our region. (Courtesy Photo)Students in Instructors’ Phil Lacelle’s Conservation and Dave Water’s Electrical/Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning classes will be able to study and learn of the components of the system. A projected use will be to complete the plumbing of the system, prime with glycol and install this unit to assist in the heating of water to for their greenhouse aquaponics program. Aquaponics is a system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish, or other aquatic animals, supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purifies the water. One challenge to the OHM BOCES’ aquaponics program has been the inability to meet the warm water needs of the tilapia fish species used in the system used during the school year.
This CCE/OHM BOCES partnership seeks to connect students to the business of agriculture in our region, the varied technologies that power the businesses and residences in Central New York, and to the many career opportunities and necessary workforce skill sets associated with these technologies.
—Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County
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