Timothy Zavacki (above photo), Woods Manufacturing teacher at Warren Hills Regional High School, works this past summer toward creating a self-sufficient mobile classroom in under five days using an off-the-grid power system in Taylorville, IL, at Taylorville High School.

Zavacki became involved with this project due to his association with the Shop Class Podcast. During the first week of August, Zavacki, Matt Blomquist, Ron Grosinger, Phil Lazowski, Nick Bodnar and Gregg Helmich installed solar panels on top of the roof using batteries, and eventually installed the whole solar charger and inverter system.

The group faced conflicts, including the property lot they picked being completely powerless. To fix this problem, the classroom became off-grid as they solved delays and expensive costs.

Also, the team had to overcome incorrect fuses, broken wires and solar panels, and a lack of battery insulation.

Thanks to Blomquist, from Taylorsville High School, a whopping $15,000 from a Harbor Freight Tools for Schools award helped pay for the entire system.

Zavacki said he considered the setbacks small.

 “Having the wiring diagram on a whiteboard made making changes to the plan easy and provided visual means for us to not get overwhelmed with the entire project,” he said.

Zavacki said he learned new building techniques, got to work with air-conditioning power, and gained understanding of how the components of an inverter work. After getting through many tests and assembling, Zavacki and the people involved used their experiences together to create a functioning mobile classroom. 

(Photo courtesy of Ron Grosinger and Matt Blomquist)