A Clare Primary School has become the first institution of its kind in the country to become fully powered by solar energy.
Ennis CBS has managed to shave over €10,000 off its electricity bills, since installing a solar system back in 2022.
In 2019, the Christian Brother’s School, which is located in the heart of the county town, moved into a brand-new premises on New Road.
To complement this, the school took the decision to fundraise a total of €67,000 to put towards the installation of ninety photo-voltaic solar panels on the school roof.
Last year alone, the building generated 39 MW (Mega-Watts) of electricity through the system, but just 32 MW were needed to power the school, which allowed the excess to be sold back to the national grid for credit.
As a result, CBS slashed over €10,000 off their energy bills in the last two years and is now receiving between two and three thousand euro towards other projects.
Principal Dara Glynn says the school is seeing the benefits all year round.
The 650 pupils of the CBS Primary School in Ennis, won’t be the last in this county to reap the rewards of solar power.
In November, Clare became one of ten counties to be included in the solar schools programme, which allows both national and secondary schools to install up to 16 photo-voltaic panels on their premises free of charge.
The scheme received over 1,000 applications in its first week alone.
Inagh Green Party Senator Roisín Garvey, who is also her party’s spokesperson for rural development, is confident this will kickstart a renewable energy revolution in the education sector.
You can listen to the full interview below.
