Best Kickstarter ever: This fourth-grade class is building its very own solar array, and you can help
Aaron’s Class started their Kickstarter with the goal of raising $800. The fourth graders had been learning about clean energy, and they decided that they wanted to make their own classroom solar-powered “so we can conserve resources, have less pollution, learn how it works, and tell the world.” Eight hundred dollars would have set them up with a simple system that would have covered their classroom energy use.
So far, they’ve raised $3,500.
That means they’re going to be able to build a solar power system that creates more than 1 kilowatt of clean energy. They can power not just their classroom, but other classes in their school. Every student in the class can build his or her own wind turbine. And they still have 24 hours to raise money. If they raise another $500, they say, they can buy two more solar panels and provide even more clean energy.
Plus, they’ve put together one of the clearest explanations we’ve seen on how solar power actually works, which they shared both with their school and the internet:
This really is the best Kickstarter project ever to be kickstarted. If you have doubts about that, just check out what these students had to say when their project reached its first goal:
Here is what some of the kids had to say today:
I’m just so happy that so many people care about our project and the environment – Cassie
I am so thankful because this is the biggest dream our class has had and they are making it come true – Ellen
Thank you so much for giving money to support our dream. We are so excited about what will happen – Ella
I hope all these kids go home and ask their parents, “Why don’t we have solar power at home?” And I hope their parents stop and think, “Huh, why don’t we have solar power at home?” Because, really, as this class is showing, it’s not that complicated to put together a project like this. You just need a little bit of capital and little bit of willpower.
Fourth-graders crowdfund their own solar-powered classroom, Treehugger.