We spend a lot of time talking about solar as an investment, or about solar power plants as the new MVP of clean energy production. Though small-scale distributed energy resources can be life-changing (or life-saving) on the individual or community level, the industry rarely pauses to appreciate it. Two recent moves to install solar energy systems in schools present a good opportunity to do just that.

Lebanon is a small country with a lot of sparsely populated, mountainous terrain served by a problematic electrical grid. Schools in rural districts face such frequent power outages that they present a real hurdle to effective teaching. Chinese solar panel manufacturer Suntech (NYSE: STP) has worked with a Lebanese solar integrator under a UN-sponsored program to bring solar power to 19 of these remote schools. Solar installations were all under 2kw, which sounds awfully small–yet these arrays are still able to produce enough power for the schools’ essential lighting and a copy/fax machine. Suntech’s press release let’s conditions speak for themselves:

“For more than 20 years, and ever since the war, electrical power failure in the public grid has been a chronic problem for us,” explained Joseph Nakleh, Principal of the Anna Intermediate Public School. “We experienced blackouts on average for six to twelve hours each day…this was affecting the quality of educational services that we strive to provide our students.”

Lebanese solar integrator Asaco was tasked with meeting highly efficient design requirements set out by the Country Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Demonstration Project for the Recovery of Lebanon (CEDRO). Asaco CEO Ramzi AbuSaid said, “We had to integrate several power sources at each site, including grid power, the solar systems, and even diesel generators in some cases, and leverage each of their attributes to ensure that the schools have dependable power at all times.”

You’d think that a new initiative to install solar in schools across Florida would be a world away from the Lebanese effort, but really, it’s not so different. Governor Charlie Crist–always a staunch solar supporter, though Florida’s statewide solar programs have suffered from a confusion of red tape–recently announced $10 million of ARRA funding will go to installing 10kw solar panel arrays on at least 90 schools across the state.

This SunSmart School and E-Shelters will be managed by the Florida Solar Energy Center. The schools in question also serve as shelters in emergencies (i.e., hurricanes), and will in some cases have battery back-up to help ensure a constant supply of power in the event of grid outages.

In Lebanon, solar in schools is making a higher standard of education more consistently achievable. In Florida, solar in schools will keep communities safer in times of crisis while saving the school districts money. And in both cases, as Principal Nakleh said, “it will serve as a tangible, everlasting example for our students about the good uses of green power.”