With the California sun beating down for much of the fall semester, students at California State University, Long Beach can take advantage of that heat and use the rays to power their dying cell phones and tablets.
CSULB’s University Student Union welcomed a new solar table on campus next to the University Student Union, which was put up at the start of this semester.
The table uses solar energy to provide power to outlets that students can consequently use to charge their electronic devices.
ASI Interim Communications and Special Projects Manager James Ahumada said that the USU Board of Trustees has not approved the funding to purchase any additional power tables.
“However, the USUBOT is committed to exploring future opportunities to support sustainability efforts on campus,” Ahumada said.
Ahumada said that the USUBOT approved the solar powered table on at the end of the last fall semester.
The proposal was submitted to the USUBOT by the Sustain U team during the annual fixed asset request process, Ahumada said. Sustain U is a CSULB committee dedicated to sustainability issues and initiatives on campus.
The USUBOT purchased the table from 3fficient, a solar power and green energy vendor, whose mission is to deliver smart energy solutions that eliminate the need for fossil fuels, Ahumada said.
According to the 3fficient website, they hope to envision a day when the world’s reliance on fossil fuels will be diminished and the crisis of climate change will be averted.
“Our products provide energy directly and 100 percent from the sun,” 3fficient President Doug Poffinbarger said. “Since all the energy is produced at the point of consumption, no excess energy is needed to compensate for power losses from the grid.”
Poffinbarger said that every bit of energy consumed by a solar station saves 1.5 times the amount of energy from a fossil-fueled power plant.
“The more [off-grid] FreeCharge stations, the less power plants need to be constructed and the more resilient our national energy system becomes,” Poffinbarger said.
According to 3fficient’s website, Project FreeCharge is a public-private initiative spawned by higher education presidents and city mayors to bring smart, carbon-free urban furniture and infrastructure to public spaces, making campuses and cities more sustainable and resilient.
Senior sociology major Alisson Doan said that she believes that the solar table is a good investment and is also a good way to protect our environment.
“We can conserve more energy now because the solar table will be the new source for energy and use less electricity,” Doan said. “It’s also great because the university saves money on costs of utility, maintenance and energy.”
Poffinbarger said that solar power is reliable and dependable. Poffinbarger also said that he encourages more people to be outdoors and to enjoy the environment and respect it.
Poffinbarger said, “It’s absurd how much oil, coal and natural gas is wasted just to cool a room for a few degrees.”