Clean and green projects light up Cabrillo Energy Fair

Jake Meyer examines a solar-powered boombox he and a group of students made for the Cabrillo College Summer Academy Energy Fair Saturday. (Photos by Erik Chalhoub/Register-Pajaronian).

WATSONVILLE — With a solar-powered Nintendo Wii, boombox and a human-powered smoothie maker, fossil fuels were nowhere to be found Saturday during the Cabrillo College Summer Energy Academy Energy Fair in Watsonville Plaza.

The Summer Energy Academy, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, is a four-week summer class that gives students a start towards careers in "green" jobs.

Twenty-four students worked in separate groups on projects that demonstrate the power of sustainable energy sources. The students met for four hours a day Monday through Friday during the four-week class, researching their projects and gathering the materials they needed.

Jake Meyer, who was showing off a solar-powered boombox he and a group of students made, said the project was constructed entirely out of recycled materials, such as old computer speakers and a motorcycle battery. When testing the boombox in direct sunlight, the speakers blew out due to too much power.

For the complete article see the 08-21-2012 issue.

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