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Solar-Charged Hybrid Buses Take Wisconsin Kids Back to Schoo

solar.calfinder.com -- Kids waiting at the bus stop in Wisconsin this year will be introduced to a new sort of school supply ..much bigger than their new back-to-school sneakers. Plug-in electric school buses are set to carry children in southeastern Wisconsin back to school..

The 11 hybrid electric-diesel buses heading out..in the Oconomowoc school district.. battery-driven electric motor will work in tandem with a conventional diesel motor to power the buses.

In addition to fuel and fuel cost savings, the buses should save money through less maintenance costs due to reduced wear and tear on their engines.

To avoid trading fossil-fueled driving emissions for fossil fuel power plant emissions (used when recharging the buses’ batteries), a solar-powered recharging station was installed at the fleet's gar

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Submitted Sep 05, 2010 By: teafortwo

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lgppa Champion Author Pennsylvania Posts:11,530 Points:496,235 Joined:Sep 2010	Message Posted: Oct 15, 2010 4:28:25 PM Ignore lgppa Report Abuse I knew it, the money came from U.S. taxpayers. Why can projects like these come from private funding?
LanguageMan1 Champion Author Tampa Posts:9,140 Points:1,197,260 Joined:Apr 2008	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 1:20:33 PM Ignore LanguageMan1 Report Abuse Well, it's about time! Kinda behind the 8-ball there if you ask me!
remay Champion Author Houston Posts:4,701 Points:1,655,795 Joined:May 2006	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 12:22:57 PM Ignore remay Report Abuse I hope word of this gets around! Fleets are where there ought to be subsidies to help their costs.
Dennis783 Champion Author Wisconsin Posts:11,274 Points:2,248,060 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 8:59:28 AM Ignore Dennis783 Report Abuse good going Oconomowoc!
MidNJ Champion Author New Jersey Posts:4,628 Points:739,595 Joined:Sep 2009	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 7:18:47 AM Ignore MidNJ Report Abuse Solar charged diesel hybrid school buses is fantastic concept. Except in rural areas, school buses generally travel a limited distance in a short period of time (when school begins and ends) and sit idle for the rest of the day thus there is plenty of time to recharge batteries.
Huskersed All-Star Author Atlanta Posts:703 Points:337,950 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 12:37:56 AM Ignore Huskersed Report Abuse That's a brilliant idea. School bus consume tons of gallons of diesel.
TomJDriver Champion Author London Posts:1,036 Points:302,340 Joined:Jul 2006	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 12:37:47 AM Ignore TomJDriver Report Abuse I love this idea. Start with small numbers of these and someday it might grow big time. City delivery trucks might be a side effect. Good observation NekoSJG. The main reason buses park at school or at the driver's house during the day, is because of the cost of fuel. With this set-up they could return to the depot to charge from 9:00 am till 2:00 pm.
52MPG Champion Author Dayton Posts:4,909 Points:1,277,505 Joined:Apr 2006	Message Posted: Sep 6, 2010 12:29:39 AM Ignore 52MPG Report Abuse There is a lot of roof real estate on a bus.
Vette1967 Champion Author Albany Posts:3,654 Points:815,950 Joined:Jun 2009	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 11:51:35 PM Ignore Vette1967 Report Abuse Nice to see this change. Hope there's enough sunshine, to power those panels, during the school year.
PeteOhki Veteran Author Honolulu Posts:309 Points:307,375 Joined:Mar 2010	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 11:07:02 PM Ignore PeteOhki Report Abuse One thing I don't get is they say you save money on maintenance cost of worn parts. That seems like they are focusing on just the diesel engine only. But you have two motors now: an electric and a diesel. You should see how often I had to have my old electric swimming pool pump serviced or replace because of "wear and tear." [Edited by: PeteOhki at 9/5/2010 11:07:46 PM EST]
Bussman Champion Author Dallas Posts:3,864 Points:992,595 Joined:Nov 2008	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 10:18:23 PM Ignore Bussman Report Abuse We are getting there.
BMW2014 Champion Author Toronto Posts:1,794 Points:364,300 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 9:18:57 PM Ignore BMW2014 Report Abuse That is good start.
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:15,333 Points:923,175 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 8:30:23 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse Many folks seem to have the misconception that it takes heaps of blazing hot sun for solar energy to work. Those in the sunny southern states do harvest a bit more energy; but there is still lots of solar energy out there, even in the northern states, just waiting for someone to utilize it. Germany is one of the world leaders in solar power and they are definitely NOT a sunny climate. They do have a knack, however, for making good use of what is available.
ncomet1 Champion Author Michigan Posts:1,289 Points:408,780 Joined:Nov 2009	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 8:22:55 PM Ignore ncomet1 Report Abuse I think that the solar power would work a lot better in the southern states. I hope that it works in Wisconson, because if it does then more school systems should be able to do it.
alterman156 Champion Author New York Posts:5,085 Points:1,090,850 Joined:Dec 2008	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 8:16:16 PM Ignore alterman156 Report Abuse At least when the sun is available to recharge the batteries, there is basically no environmental impact.
graceman Champion Author Baltimore Posts:3,230 Points:819,140 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 8:07:13 PM Ignore graceman Report Abuse At least they are trying to cut back on oil and gas.
investmentdr Champion Author Cleveland Posts:1,800 Points:998,335 Joined:Sep 2008	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 6:59:43 PM Ignore investmentdr Report Abuse solar power won't get you far in WI when the sun doesn't come out from Dec. to March (almost half the school year). [Edited by: investmentdr at 9/5/2010 7:00:23 PM EST]
northeast2 Champion Author New York Posts:2,671 Points:752,030 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 6:48:35 PM Ignore northeast2 Report Abuse See, now there's full circle thinking. Solar powered fleet vehicles: don't travel far from the base, used only a few hours a day, can be recharged easily overnight, and a solar-powered recharge. Hooray!
NekoSJG Champion Author San Jose Posts:3,230 Points:570,805 Joined:Jun 2010	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 3:49:23 PM Ignore NekoSJG Report Abuse Somethings odd here - buses usually park at school during the day so to get charged by solar they would have to return to the garage or move the garage.
teafortwo Champion Author Washington Posts:15,333 Points:923,175 Joined:Feb 2009	Message Posted: Sep 5, 2010 3:04:59 PM Ignore teafortwo Report Abuse I think this is great. I can remember dreading getting caught behind a diesel bus in traffic because they were so noisy and smelly ....... We've come a long way. baby ;0)