Nov 27, 2013 02:41 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is investing $42,725 in four picnic table umbrellas that will also serve for a green energy initiative.

According to UCCS student newspaper the Scribe, the Green Action Fund committee approved the purchase of the solar-powered umbrellas unanimously. They will arrive on campus for the spring semester.

Each umbrella will be able to power gel cell phone batteries without a wire and will also come equipped with power outlets. The umbrellas also come with their own accompanying picnic tables that have LED lights to enable nighttime usage.

Matthew Driftmier, a UCCS political science major, wrote the proposal for the EnerFusion Solar Dok tables. Each table costs $9,795 with a fee of $3,545 for recoloring and designing. The proposal is for three tables, with a fourth pending one.

"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 proposal has gained all the necessary approvals and only awaits the decision on the pending fourth one and a placement agreement with the school's Auxiliary Services office.

"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."

EnerFusion has already made the same products for schools like Florida A&M, Texas A&M, UCLA and the University of Wisconsin.

Driftmier said the tables will hopefully open the administration's minds to using more solar energy.

"The real impact we're looking to get out of these tables is more awareness," he said. "Here's solar panels, here's real interactions you can have with solar energy, these are the kind of things you can do with it."

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