Limerick school is light years ahead with solar panels

Joanne O’Connell, principal of Doon CBS Primary School, shows pupils their new solar panels on the roof of the school

placeholder image — Joanne O’Connell, principal of Doon CBS Primary School, shows pupils their new solar panels on the roof of the school

The first phase of the programme opened for applications in 2023

THERE was a time when pupils had to bring sods of turf to school but now solar power is helping to heat classrooms.

The Department of Education has confirmed Doon CBS Primary School is the first school in County Limerick that has confirmed to the department the installation of solar panels through the schools photovoltaic (PV) programme, funded by the Climate Action Fund.

The first phase of the programme opened for applications on November 30, 2023.

“The scheme will fund up to 6 kWp of roof-mounted solar PV for all eligible schools, and includes connection to the grid and a monitoring system and display screen,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Education.

Joanne O’Connell, principal of Doon CBS, said their solar panels were installed on March 5 and by April 5 the system has already produced 424kwh (424 units of electricity).

“To put this into perspective, this 424 units of electricity that have been produced by the solar panels as opposed to the national grid has resulted in an economic saving as well as an environmentally-friendly saving.

“In the first four weeks since Fitzgerald Electrical Services installed the solar panels, 433kg of CO2 emissions and 170kg of coal have been saved.

“These environmentally beneficial savings have resulted in both the students and staff of the school taking a significant interest in the operation and benefits of the solar panels,” said Ms O’Connell.

She said it will help their pupils from second to sixth classes learn about energy in a real way, explore how and why as a society we need to develop new ways to meet our energy needs.

“The board of management of the school is delighted to be part of this exciting energy saving sustainable initiative.

“Fitzgerald Electric made the whole process so easy and Killian was very helpful and answered any queries and concerns we had,” said Ms O’Connell.

Many of her pupils are from farming backgrounds. Last year, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue announced the opening of applications for solar panels under new TAMS 3.

So Doon CBS boys could soon have solar panels on their sheds at home and in their school!