Sustainability | Energy
Pondering solar power With the Government’s efforts to make the public sector carbon neutral by 2025, and with half of 2021 behind us, many can’t help but feel a sense of urgency to do their part.
Navigating energy efficient options can be confusing, especially if you’re not familiar with what’s available like solar panels. However, solar panel installation is a long-term investment that deserves much forethought. Solar power can be accessed from anywhere in New Zealand through the use of solar panels. According to Gen Less, solar panels are made up of semi-conducting, electron containing materials like silicon. The panels are positioned in a way so that photons from the sun cause the electrons in the solar panel to generate an electric current. Even though everyone has the potential to harness energy from the sun, different regions and panel orientations help determine the amount of electricity solar panels generate. In addition to your school’s location, there are other aspects to consider before pursuing solar panel installation.
SOAKING IT ALL IN Before installing solar panels at your school, the Ministry of Education suggests that schools make other efforts to reduce energy use like improving building insulation, using energy efficient lights and appliances, and practicing energy efficiency initiatives. The Ministry suggests this because it finds that making these efforts is more cost-effective than solar panel installation. Even if a school has made previous efforts to increase its overall energy efficiency, there are other considerations to be made.
Gen Less lists the pros and cons of solar panel installation in residential homes; some of the benefits include the ability to sell excess electricity to a retailer, function on cloudy days, and to charge big power users like hot water cylinders and electric vehicles. On the other hand, Gen Less balances the pros with potential drawbacks to consider, like the fact that solar panels produce less energy at different parts of the day and year, retailers buy electricity back at lower rates than they sell it, solar panels generate less power as they degrade, and the inverter accompanying solar panels often needs replacing before the panels do.
Late last year, the Government announced that the public sector would become carbon neutral by 2025. The following April, it was announced that 36 schools would receive financial support from the State Sector Decarbonisation Fund to make clean energy upgrades – this is in addition to the $55 million allocated to replace coal boilers in 90 schools.
Although these pros and cons are applied to residential homes, there is some crossover when applied to school buildings. For example, another pro listed is that solar panels best service energy users in the day. While many homes are dormant in the day, schools are busy with a variety of activities and can use the energy generated by solar panels during the day.
26 | Term 3, 2021 www.principalstoday.co.nz
The Ministry of Education requires solar panels to be installed by Sustainable Electricity Association of New Zealand (SEANZ) members. The Ministry’s reasoning behind this is to ensure solar panel installation is compliant with all standards and requirements, including roofing product warranties and the Ministry’s weathertightness and durability requirements.
Ultimately, the decision to install solar panels should be made on a case-bycase basis because there are so many factors to take into account. With that said, each school’s journey to energy efficiency and sustainability will vary and differ from school to school.
TAKING IT HOME It’s one thing to create an energy efficient learning environment for students while they’re at school, but it’s another thing to instil energy efficient practices into students.
When students learn how to best use energy, their families, the community and future generations benefit from it. There are a million ways to teach students of all ages about energy efficiency and sustainability. For instance, when students are learning about photosynthesis, students can also learn how solar panels work and draw on the similarities and differences between both processes. High school students can use EECA’s solar tool to determine whether their home is suitable for solar panels. When using the tool, students will need to input their home address, the amount of electricity their household uses in a month and the price their caregivers pay for the electricity used. This exercise can easily be made into individual projects or a class activity. Integrating activities on energy efficiency and sustainability into lesson plans gives students the opportunity to think about ‘big picture’ ideas and to take those ideas with them when they go home or when they eventually leave school.
