By Patrick McGroarty
Reporter Staff

On Monday afternoon, sixth graders at the Murphy School tried to decipher a mess of density equations and convection currents beamed through an overhead projector as Adam Shopis, their science teacher, sung the praises of a small solar panel recently installed on the school's roof just outside his classroom.

"Our panel is made of photovoltaic cells, which convert light into electricity," Shopis explained. "The system converts direct current into alternating current, and sends it right into the school's main power grid."

The panel was installed in late 2005 during Christmas vacation as a joint project between Boston Public Schools, MassEnergy, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the City of Boston, and the family of Mark Charbonnier, a Ronan Park native and state trooper killed in the line of duty in 1994. Julie Garvey, a childhood friend of Charbonnier's and member of the Murphy School's parents' council, spearheaded the effort to bring in $10,000 from Charbonnier's trust. As a token of gratitude, Shopis' science lab, where students will be able to monitor the solar panel from a PC, will be renamed in the fallen trooper's honor.

Just last week, many of the same collaborators unveiled another solar panel atop the Fenway Arts Academy. In Dorchester, the panel is one of only a handful of roof-mounted solar units.

The neighborhood's largest solar unit, installed in 2003, resides atop the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 103 training facility on Freeport Avenue. The IBEW also boasts the neighborhood's most conspicuous alternative energy generator, a 150-foot wind turbine installed in the spring of 2005. Both the solar panel and the wind turbine, said Mike Monahan, business manager for the Local 103, are a way to train developing electricians in technology that will increasingly guide the future of energy.

"It's all about jobs," said Monahan. "We want to send a message to the twenty or so other wind projects that are working through planning boards across the state that Local 103 is most the productive and educated and that they should turn to us to install them."

On Monday evening, Gary Walker presented the Clam Point Civic Association with a $5,000 check. The presentation was the fulfillment of an annual payment agreement between Local 103 and the civic association.

That agreement stirred up the adjacent Columbia Savin Hill Civic Association (CSHCA) when plans were announced a year ago. Bob Donovan, president of the CSHCA, said that association members were frustrated that the 103 went straight to Clam Point without consulting CSHCA.

"I wouldn't want to be involved in something like that," Donovan said. "If it went to a charity, that's one thing. But what if some developer wants to give [the association] $10,000 to build condos or something?"

He added that while some members of his association find the turbine graceful and others see it as an eyesore, the consensus is that its presence as a training tool is understandable.

Helen McChesney, who was president of Clam Point Civic when the turbine was installed, said the annual funds are used for community improvement. This year, she said, the money will go to a neighborhood clean-up effort and a scholarship fund for students studying environmental issues.

"When Local 103 came to us we asked people in the neighborhood how they felt, and I don't think we got one negative response," she said.

Workers from Local 103 were hired to install the solar unit at the Murphy school, as well as several privately owned systems throughout the neighborhood. No private solar unit owners could be reached for comment.

Monahan said that while interest in alternative energy is increasing, cost remains the largest obstacle. Local 103's turbine cost an estimated $300,000, though it also produces tens of thousands of dollars in electricity annually. The Murphy school's modest system came with a $24,000 price tag, while offsetting only about $250 a year in electrical costs.

Grants are available for both public and private institutions to offset the cost of solar panel installation through agencies such as MassEnergy and MTC. As traditional fuel costs climb, Monahan is betting that training to install alternative systems will become a valuable skill, and energy advocates like MassEnergy's Chad Lorent are hoping education, particularly among students such as those at the Murphy school, will help make the technology more attractive.

"What greater inspiration for putting solar panels on your house than having your children say you should?" asked Lorent.