We're Innovating to Improve Our Community
The Hart Center offers students the opportunity to take part in leadership development and team-building activities through service-learning at St. Philips School and Community Center in Dallas. Lyle students volunteer for the Solar Farm project to support “Gwen’s Garden,” which provides fresh, organic vegetables to Aunt Bette's Community Pantry at St. Philips. Our students use innovative technology to change community farming for the better. All systems in the garden are powered through solar energy to avoid producing air pollution, water pollution and greenhouse gases. The garden is watered by a combination of aquaponics and drip irrigation to mimic the natural ecosystem and eliminate waste and toxic chemicals.
To learn more about how to volunteer, please email hartleadership@smu.edu.
For more information on the Hart Center’s Solar Farm Project at St. Philip’s, read below about how these innovative systems positively impact the environment
Solar Panels
Solar panels are conductors of energy – they take in sunlight, and turn it into electricity. Encased in each solar panels are solar cells, which capture sunlight particles that travel through the sun’s rays. After the solar cells have provided enough electricity for the day, the electrons move back into place. This means that the materials in solar panels are never used up or worn out, and can be reused over and over again for decades.
A few solar cells can power something small, such as an electric toothbrush or a cell phone. Around 500 solar cells are needed to power an entire house. If less than 1% of the world was covered in solar panels, everyone would have all the electric power they would ever need.
Aquaponics
