Phase X
Overview
September 2019 - June 2020
Phase X - Municipal Community Generation Challenge
Phase X was a one-year initiative to try to help the Town of Cochrane (ToC) win a multimillion dollar grant as part of
the Municipal Community Generation Challenge hosted by Alberta Innovates (AI) and the Municipal Climate Change
Action Centre (MCCAC). Albertans are increasingly impacted by climate change as floods, smoke from wildfires, heat
waves, early snowstorms and drought become part of our everyday reality. By joining the ToC, we’re taking further
mitigation measures to help stabilize our GHG emissions and ultimately, the climate crisis. Our responsibilities in the
challenge were to provide an educational framework for the proposed project, perform public speaking engagements,
and help create an outreach plan to promote the project and the use of the technology.
The ToC’s project was a 2.5 MW solar farm southwest of the town on municipal land. Our committee prepared a
presentation vetted by members of the ToC, Rural Routes to Climate Solutions, Peter’s Energy and the CHSD Committee
Advisor to ensure the feasibility of the project was both factual and accurate. Solar energy is a topic that is covered in
the Alberta senior high school science curricula; namely biology 20 and science 30. This phase of our long-standing
project will offer a learning opportunity that is both authentic and engaging. This is a real change from our usual
projects which, historically, focussed on policy or infrastructure changes. For phase X, we partnered with the ToC to
round out the educational portion of the application to this municipal community challenge. A goal of both AI and
MCCAC is to assist in the diversification of energy for the future as it transitions to low-carbon technologies. The town’s
proposal, a 2.5 MW solar farm, would have accomplished this goal for the ToC.
Our presentation was completed in November 2019 and vetted in December of that year. It was versatile in that it could
be done as a stand-alone presentation or broken up into sections that were perfect for booth style chats. We had actual
demonstrations of how solar panels work, using a portable solar system that would operate an iphone charging station
to demonstrate the power of the sun. Our only public speaking engagement occurred in March 2020 for the Community
Generation Power Up Workshop where our club spoke to members of the general public about our phase IX project and
engagement strategies. At this time, we were beginning to look at creating an outreach process, whereby other schools
in the division or beyond would be invited to learn about solar energy through field trips to the site, or virtually using on
site weatherproof, digital cameras.
Shortly after COVID-19 shut down the schools, we discovered that the ToC was not selected by AI and MCCAC for
the Community Generation Challenge. As a result, our material and presentation have been shelved.
the Municipal Community Generation Challenge hosted by Alberta Innovates (AI) and the Municipal Climate Change
Action Centre (MCCAC). Albertans are increasingly impacted by climate change as floods, smoke from wildfires, heat
waves, early snowstorms and drought become part of our everyday reality. By joining the ToC, we’re taking further
mitigation measures to help stabilize our GHG emissions and ultimately, the climate crisis. Our responsibilities in the
challenge were to provide an educational framework for the proposed project, perform public speaking engagements,
and help create an outreach plan to promote the project and the use of the technology.
The ToC’s project was a 2.5 MW solar farm southwest of the town on municipal land. Our committee prepared a
presentation vetted by members of the ToC, Rural Routes to Climate Solutions, Peter’s Energy and the CHSD Committee
Advisor to ensure the feasibility of the project was both factual and accurate. Solar energy is a topic that is covered in
the Alberta senior high school science curricula; namely biology 20 and science 30. This phase of our long-standing
project will offer a learning opportunity that is both authentic and engaging. This is a real change from our usual
projects which, historically, focussed on policy or infrastructure changes. For phase X, we partnered with the ToC to
round out the educational portion of the application to this municipal community challenge. A goal of both AI and
MCCAC is to assist in the diversification of energy for the future as it transitions to low-carbon technologies. The town’s
proposal, a 2.5 MW solar farm, would have accomplished this goal for the ToC.
Our presentation was completed in November 2019 and vetted in December of that year. It was versatile in that it could
be done as a stand-alone presentation or broken up into sections that were perfect for booth style chats. We had actual
demonstrations of how solar panels work, using a portable solar system that would operate an iphone charging station
to demonstrate the power of the sun. Our only public speaking engagement occurred in March 2020 for the Community
Generation Power Up Workshop where our club spoke to members of the general public about our phase IX project and
engagement strategies. At this time, we were beginning to look at creating an outreach process, whereby other schools
in the division or beyond would be invited to learn about solar energy through field trips to the site, or virtually using on
site weatherproof, digital cameras.
Shortly after COVID-19 shut down the schools, we discovered that the ToC was not selected by AI and MCCAC for
the Community Generation Challenge. As a result, our material and presentation have been shelved.
Timeline
July 2019 Approached by ToC to be member of the team applying for the Municipal Community Generation Grant
Sought committee approval and was granted.
September 2019 - unveiled ToC project proposal to committee. Began soliciting for new members. Emma Price,
Kasandra Trenke, Kathryn Pawelko, Lucas Novakowski and Charlotte Wowk joined. Public speaking engagements
included Club Fair (mid-Sept) and Mandatory Grade 12 meeting (late Sept)
October 2019 - worked on presentation; obtained real-time data from RVS regarding our phase IX solar system. The
graph below shows how our phase IX solar system is helping reduce electrical consumption from traditional sources. It
also shows that money is being saved.
Sought committee approval and was granted.
September 2019 - unveiled ToC project proposal to committee. Began soliciting for new members. Emma Price,
Kasandra Trenke, Kathryn Pawelko, Lucas Novakowski and Charlotte Wowk joined. Public speaking engagements
included Club Fair (mid-Sept) and Mandatory Grade 12 meeting (late Sept)
October 2019 - worked on presentation; obtained real-time data from RVS regarding our phase IX solar system. The
graph below shows how our phase IX solar system is helping reduce electrical consumption from traditional sources. It
also shows that money is being saved.
Blue Line: Consumption (KWH) Orange Line: Cost (CAD)
Team Members
Sept 2019 - June 2020
Ms Stephanie Bennett Ms Kristine Thoreson
Travis Price Emma Price
Emilio Spagnolo Kathryn Pawelko
Alexander DeMichele Lucas Novakowski
Kasandra Trenke Zoe Cinnamon
Aiden Cathcart Charlotte Wowk
Ms Stephanie Bennett Ms Kristine Thoreson
Travis Price Emma Price
Emilio Spagnolo Kathryn Pawelko
Alexander DeMichele Lucas Novakowski
Kasandra Trenke Zoe Cinnamon
Aiden Cathcart Charlotte Wowk
Donations Table
The ToC was responsible for all the fundraising for this project. CHSD Committee volunteered its time to create and present information on solar energy.