Seniors Cynthia Lee and Joanna Samana were walking down the stairs of McLane Hall recently when they noticed something flashing.

“Hey, here’s another one,â€Â Lee said. “It’s a big TV.â€Â

Students have heard about Fresno State̢۪s efforts to go green, especially with the photovoltaic solar parking lot that generates some of the university̢۪s energy. But what students might not know is how much electricity is being used on campus at any given moment. Most students don̢۪t even know how solar energy works.

Solar energy education has started its circulation on campus. The plan is to educate students about how much impact solar power has on energy savings.

Chevron is providing a new way for students to understand how solar power works. They have distributed four energy information kiosks throughout campus with plasma touch-screens, which provide information about solar energy as well as live data on how much energy is being generated from the Lot V parking lot at any given moment.

The kiosks are about five and a half feet tall, with a screen at eye-level for pedestrians. On the screen, students can choose to read about an introduction to the Lot V solar panel project, live date on solar production, and how solar energy works.

When students are not using the kiosks, the screens are set to cycle through different information and sections automatically.

Lot V reopened with the new solar energy panels in November 2007, but the idea for using solar energy information kiosks started in 2005.

Dick Smith, the director of the department of utility and management, contacted three companies about using solar panels for energy on campus and requested bill proposals. He accepted the design bill contract with Chevron, which included the distribution of the four energy information kiosks.

There is one kiosk located in McLane Hall, one in the Engineering East building and the other two are on opposite sides of Lot V.

“People coming and going can get real time production out of it,â€Â Smith said. “What’s gone on historically and what’s happening now.â€Â

Fat Spaniel Technologies is providing the information on how much energy is being generated hourly. Smith said that the solar power collected from Lot V is hard-wired to Engineering East, which is where the information for the kiosks is generated.

Christi Aguilar, a junior majoring in molecular cellular developmental biology, had one concern with the kiosks.

“It’s really cool that they’re up, but if it’s taking up more energy, it kind of defeats the purpose,â€Â Aguilar said.

Fareed Nader, Ph.D., director of the university̢۪s solar center, said that the amount of energy the kiosks use is negligible compared to what̢۪s being generated.

At peak production, 1.2 mega watts of electricity is being generated from Lot V, which is about 20 percent of what the university is using at its high demand point.

Smith said that the kiosks use light emitting diodes (LED), which are brighter and use less energy than a light bulb.

Students are concerned that information about solar power might get old after a while. Samana said that if the kiosks could display other types of information, such as announcements for meetings and clubs, they would be more beneficial.

Smith said that the kiosks will provide more information that relates to the area they̢۪re in. The one in Engineering East building, for example, will provide information about upcoming events, such as career day.

Smith will soon meet with the Economic Development Corporation, which is an organization run by the city and county to attract new businesses and jobs to Fresno, so that companies like Sun Tech, which is the second-largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, will come to Fresno for solar-associated procedures.

“If we could demonstrate there’s a strong market for solar panels, then that would make big companies come to us,â€Â Smith said. “The more we get people to think about solar, the better our chances are.â€Â