For Solway College solar power provides more than just financial benefits

<h2>Utilise recently installed stage 1 of a 110kW system for Solway College under the<em> Utilise Power Supply Agreement<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>While the financial case stood up well with long-term electricity cost savings&comma; there were many other compelling aspects to the business case decision&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The school was keen to demonstrate to its future leaders its commitment to sustainability by making the move to renewable energy&period; Part of that leadership was to play its part in meeting the government’s vision for our country and its targets of being carbon net zero by 2050 and a 100 percent renewable electricity supply by 2030&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In particular&comma; Solway College saw it as important to model to its students a commitment to tackling climate change&comma; given the importance of showing our young people practical ways that it can be reduced&period; The Utilise solar system is able to do just that&period; The school already has a Kaitiaki programme related to restoration of native fauna and the installation of renewable energy demonstrates the same principles&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;18630" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-18630" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-18630" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;03&sol;Solway-College-2-300x167&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"167" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-18630" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Installation in progress at Solway College&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>In addition&comma; having solar generation at the school enables it to be integrated into its curriculum&period; There are many strong voices in the student community around climate change and the solar system will become a learning tool&period; Rather than teaching science&comma; technology&comma; engineering and mathematics as separate and discrete subjects&comma; the solar system integrates them as a real-world application&period; The system monitoring allows students to see the benefits in real time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In summary&comma; the Utilise solar system deployed at Solway College not only provides financial benefits&comma; but it also helps our nation by contributing to New Zealand’s clean energy future and enhances the school’s role of leadership in the community&period; It models the school’s environmental credentials&comma; providing a real-world example of renewable energy and sustainability in action that augments the Solway College curriculum&comma; becoming a symbol to its student and parent communities of practical progress in slowing climate change&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;