The installation of a state-of-the art solar electric project at Gallup High School was cause for celebration Feb. 24.

"We're really looking at alternative energy sources," said Bruce Tempest, president of the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education.

Besides the potential savings in fuel costs, the project is an opportunity to teach students at the high school and at the University of New Mexico-Gallup about alternative energy systems, Tempest said.

One of only 15 districts statewide to receive an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, GMCS collaborated with the state of New Mexico and Gallup Solar, a local nonprofit advocacy group, to do the project.

The 50-kilowatt photovoltaic system was constructed by Sacred Power Corp., a Native-owned company based in Albuquerque, using technology developed by Emcore Corp., which manufactures solar power equipment at its Albuquerque plant.

Michael Yates, Emcore business development manager, said the Gallup project would offset a portion of the high school's energy usage as well as being an educational tool.

Emcore makes solar equipment for use in satellites, and Yates said the Gallup project employs concentrated photovoltaics, a more advanced technology than that found in regular silicon-solar panels. The Emcore photovoltaics use a lens to concentrate the sun over a 1,000 times on top of a one-square-centimeter solar cell.

"The solar cell we use is called a triple-junction solar cell," he explained. "It's actually three semiconductors laying on top of each other. These solar cells were originally designed for space applications."

The solar panel modules use a tracking system to follow the sun throughout the day. Each panel has several boxes with magnifying lenses. At the bottom of each box is a solar cell concentrating light on a smaller solar cell.