File this story under pointless green initiatives.

Eleanor Skelton of The Scribe reports.

Installation of solar picnic tables slated for spring

On the first day of the spring semester, students may be able to charge their smartphones and laptops at outdoor picnic tables.

Matthew Driftmier, a political science major in his second year of a three-year program, wrote the proposal for the Solar Dok picnic tables and recently presented it to the Green Action Fund.

Each table has solar panels on the umbrella that charge Gel Cell batteries below and include four wall outlets and two USB ports protected by outdoor outlet covers. The tables’ LED lights can be used at night.

The Green Action Fund committee voted unanimously to approve the $42,725 project. Driftmier, who sits on the GAF committee in his role as SGA secretary of sustainability, abstained.

Each of the four originally proposed tables costs $9,795, and the proposal also includes $3,545 for color and design options.

The original proposal suggested installing four tables, but the fourth table is still being debated. While the project was funded for all four tables, the understanding among committee members is that it will be for three tables until details of placement for the fourth are worked out and voted on at their next meeting, Nov. 20.

“We still haven’t finalized the tables yet, but right now we’re looking at one in the Upper Plaza, one in the Lower Plaza, one out underneath the clock tower in the El Pomar Plaza and then the fourth one I want to bring back would be out in front of the west entrance to the University Center, out by where the Green Action Fund’s bicycle pump is,” Driftmier said.

The project currently has verbal approval from facilities, auxiliaries, the university architect and the UC design review board.

Driftmier still must finalize placement with Jeff Davis, executive director at Auxiliaries Services, and order the tables from EnerFusion, Inc.

“There aren’t really hard statistics about how much energy is saved because it’s dependent on how much use they get, how much people are actually using them,” said Driftmier. “This isn’t going to be cutting the UC’s energy bills in half by a long shot. The energy saved will be more negligible.”