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Catholic University Students Recognized For Solar Picnic Table

By: Sabri Ben-Achour // April 15, 2011
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Back row, from left: Joseph Cochrane, Michael Doster, Lindsey Dickes, and Harry Warren, president of WGES. Front row, from left: Cory Estep, Monica Perez, John Lang, and CUA President John Garvey.
Ed Pfueller, Catholic University
Back row, from left: Joseph Cochrane, Michael Doster, Lindsey Dickes, and Harry Warren, president of WGES. Front row, from left: Cory Estep, Monica Perez, John Lang, and CUA President John Garvey.

Lindsey Dickes is one of six students who helped design the table.

"[A solar picnic table] is essentially a place where students can come plug in and charge their personal electronics while they eat lunch, sit outside enjoy the sun," Dickes says. "It's a nice opportunity to sit outside and not worry about your computer losing it's charge."

The table has a canopy of solar panels above it, and it sits outside the university's Pryzbyla Center. A much larger solar array is being installed atop the university -- 1440 panels are being leased to the University from Washington Gas Energy Services.

Washington Gas and Electric pays for the panels and the university pays for the cheaper electricity. The solar picnic table, however, is free.

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