A brand new electrical training system that students began using at Gloucester High School last week can open doors to new employment opportunities, sophomore Brendan McCarthy and some of his classmates say.
It could also provide a needed workforce toward the future of the energy industry, says Tim Sanborn, owner of the Gloucester-based Cazeault Solar & Home company that is one of the donors backing the project.

Both the new training apparatus and a $15,000 solar system donated by Cazeault are part of an overall solar and wind energy program that’s now the focus of more than two dozen students in grades 10 though 12 at the high school, says Robert Devlin, who is teaching the program in the school’s electrical shop.

The solar-wind energy training system, provided for the school through a donation by local philanthropists John and Mollie Byrnes through the Gloucester Education Foundation, provides students the chance to gain hands-on programming and testing skills for installing solar panels and other system components as well as for wind turbine projects. The more elaborate solar panels being built by juniors and seniors will ultimately be installed on the roof of the school sometime next year, Devlin said.

Diversified education
“The idea is to diversify the program and provide as much diversity in electrical education as possible,” Devlin said, as sophomores McCarthy, Kory Hurd, Dylan Piscitello, Cole Benson and Joel Silva looked over the apparatus, which had a sample turbine prop attached and a medal hood protecting the solar panels at the top.

Devlin noted the program should not only give interested students a leg up if they choose a career in solar electronics, but if they explore higher engineering education. Those opportunities were not lost on the students working on their project Monday. “I think solar’s going to be taking over the industry sometime in the future,” said McCarthy. “We know the oil supply isn’t going to go on forever. Solar is becoming more and more the way to go.”