Philadelphia Weekly

The kid on the right is the one we want to babysit.

When web designer Micah Gold-Markel first saw chemical engineer Matt VanKouwenberg in action, Matt was in the process of streamlining the production of biofuels for manufacturing. But VanKouwenberg's team was at an early disadvantage that often impeded their research. They had to be finished their experiments before the lunch bell.

VanKouwenberg, or VK as he is known in room 302, is a science teacher at the Science Leadership Academy, a public high school resulting from a partnership between the School District of Philadelphia and the Franklin Institute. The school focuses on college prep in technology, science, math, and entrepreneurship. While keeping mandatory classes to the standard curriculum, SLA's more leadership-friendly atmosphere and rigorous admission standards have led to some extremely creative electives for interested students.

After watching VanKouwenberg's class take their biofuels technology all the way to the patent level, Gold-Markel knew that he had found the perfect incubator for a new Philadelphia industry. He and partner Bob Simon started Solar States, a solar power initiative scheduled to become an independent power producer by 2010. And they plan to do it using graduates from Philadelphia high schools.

"I had been involved in a lot of urban planning projects, sustainability forums, just observing and one day, I saw this guy named Van Jones speak," Gold-Markel says. "I had always had these distinct interests that I never thought of as being related--the environment being one, education being another, job creation being another--and it became clear to me that if I had a business that did all of them, I could be more successful by helping the community."

The pair wrote the curriculum for the Solar Energy elective at SLA to prepare students for careers in what the pair hopes will be a growth industry for Philadelphia. Simon and Gold-Markel hope to have solar farms up and running in neighborhoods across the region in the next few years. They have already received power agreements from the owners of their office space in the Crane Arts Building at 1400 N. American Street in Fishtown, and are in talks with the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

But why would anyone buy energy from a web designer and a marketing professional if they could buy it from PECO? Just as the cost of creating electricity has begun to skyrocket, the effects of energy deregulation will really begin to hit home when current energy rate caps expire in December 2010. PECO has admitted to rate hikes of at least 20 percent. But Gov. Ed Rendell has predicted hikes of 50 percent or more in some cases. This leaves businesses across the region scrambling for an alternative.

The ideals behind Solar States are clearly positive. But when it comes to financing, eyebrows have gone up. But while banks are giving very few loans right now, the companies that are getting loans are ones with sustainable business models that plan to put people to work. And with the rate caps going into effect, companies are signing long-term contracts called power purchase agreements to keep their energy costs steady over what could be a very tumultuous financial period.

"The average life of a solar panel is 25 years," Simon says. "So these companies pay a little more now and it's a great hedge against inflation."

"When the airline industry struggled with the rising cost of gasoline, the only airline that didn't suffer was Southwest," Gold-Markel says. "Why? Because they signed a long-term energy agreement."

As the Green Collar Economy continues to be the most trusted financial sector in the U.S., it will be up to the scientific entrepreneurs of tomorrow to clear a path. It should come as no surprise that Philadelphia's next energy industry should start at the Science Leadership Academy. As students clear the cafeteria, scuttling past the indoor bicycle parking towards their next class, a periodic table comes into view on the back wall. The table is emblazoned with the school motto: learn, create, lead.

Classes here are surreal, with teens still in braces discussing photovoltaic technology and solar powered heating and cooling systems. Students wear white lab coats with pride, personalizing them with drawings and messages from friends. Matt already has his kids thinking about the next level, researching material costs and the economic pros and cons of solar energy ventures on their school-issued MacBook computers.

But the real challenge comes after the first of the year when Solar States takes their act on the road, traveling to some of the more needy public schools in Philadelphia to see if the sun shines as brightly there.

"You have to meet the students where they are, but you still have to challenge them and set goals for them that are attainable so they don't shut down," VanKouwenberg says. "Specifically, what I would do to modify this is a little less research and more experimentation. My hope would be towards the end of a project with them that I would have to be a little less prescriptive, removing the reins and letting the students solve problems on their own."

Gold-Markel and Simon hope this more vocational training will provide a crop of solar technicians ready to work on installs and in-the-field issues that affect the guts of solar energy collectors.

"Philadelphia public schools have a bad reputation for good reason but there are great schools here as well," Gold-Markel says. "If you can take programs that are working in the good schools and modify them for the schools that are struggling, maybe you can retool that ratio."

Philadelphia students are learning everyday. And, with curriculums focusing more and more on alternative energy and sustainability, creation is inevitable. As for leadership, only time will tell. The only question is: will Philadelphia have the roots in place for the leaders of tomorrow to get to work?