Rowan Anderson

Journalist

Schools are going smarter with solar power installations smashing the target set by the State Government.

Far north Queensland schools have had more than 18,400 solar panels installed to help slash electricity costs and cut carbon emissions.

Education Minister Grace Grace said the Advancing Clean Energy Schools (ACES) program was expanded in February 2022 and had exceeded targets to deliver more panels at more schools than originally planned.

“I am particularly proud that we exceeded our original target of 180,000 panels at 872 schools and have instead delivered 200,000 panels at 912 schools across the state,” Minister Grace said.

“This equates to a $26 million saving on energy bills every single year and is enough renewable energy to power 25,000 homes."

Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the program was good news for schools, our environment, and great news for the Palaszczuk Government’s renewable energy target.

“This program is making a significant contribution to the Government’s 50% renewable energy target by 2030, with the 200,000 solar panels on state school rooftops expected to generate an average of 280MW of electricity per day,” Mr Healy said.

Speaker of Parliament and Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt said the 18,400 panels in the Far North alone can generate around 26,700 kW of electricity every day.

"This is another example of our commitment to delivering state-of-the-art facilities to our world-class schools and ensure a bright future for our children by taking action on climate change,” Mr Pitt said.

Redlynch State College had 1156 solar panels installed which will offset the costs of air conditioning and other energy costs in a $830,000 investment.

Principal Maurice Andrejic, said the school is delighted with their new solar panels, which can generate an average of 1,600 kW of electricity every day.

"This will undoubtedly deliver great savings to our College so we can spend more on delivering outcomes for our students,” Mr Andrejic said.

"We can now show the community that clean and affordable energy benefits everyone, and anyone can get involved in the use of solar panels.”

With the continued rollout of this program the sun will shine as solar energy is sustained throughout schools in the tropical north of our state.