Solar set to power six local schools

Solar panels are about to power up Noosa learning centres to help reduce carbon emissions and save on energy costs.

SIX Noosa schools are among the first 30 in the North Coast education region earmarked for solar panels under a State Government program.

They are Cooroy State School, Noosa District State High School, Noosaville State School, Sunshine Beach State High School, Sunshine Beach State School and Tewantin State School.

Ten thousand new solar panels have been installed on Queensland state school buildings and classrooms through funding from the Advancing Clean Energy Schools program, with more on the way.

Education Minister Grace Grace said her department was "making great progress in making our state schools more energy efficient".

"So far, 76 schools have received solar panels, with many more on the way," she said.

One of these was Noosaville State School, with 83 panels installed generating 30kW of power.

The rollout of the ACES program will help reduce the energy costs at schools, which are some of the biggest energy users in the state, and is expected to produce 320 jobs and 58,000 hours of apprentice work.

"This program is such a boost for our education system here in Queensland," Ms Grace said.

"Not only are we going to save millions of dollars, we're also helping reduce our impact on the environment and support local jobs in the process.

"To date, almost 3000kW of solar power is being generated from the installed panels across Queensland."

Ms Grace said the initiative would result in the installation of almost 34,000 solar panel s by the end of June.

"We are well on track to deliver these panels to more than 800 state schools across Queensland," she said.

"The energy cost savings realised by this program when fully implemented is expected to be approximately $10 million per year."

State schools spend on average more than $71 million each year on energy and while the majority of Queensland's 1241 state schools already offset energy costs with small solar photovoltaic systems and other energy-efficiency strategies, more can be achieved as a result of recent developments in new technologies.

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