Kitchener, Ont. school gets hundreds of solar panels installed on its roof

Solar panel project at Kitchener school A Kitchener school is betting on a brighter future. Spencer Turcotte explains.

A Kitchener, Ont. school will soon see more than 850 solar panels installed on its roof.

Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, a school for Grades 7 through 12, is benefitting from a project by VCT Group, a local solar energy company.

"It's going to supply, on a net basis, all the energy the school needs over the course of the year," explained Zac Jolliffe, VCT Group's business development manager.

It will also provide that energy for decades to come.

"So 30 years out, they're going to be producing what they were on day one," said Jolliffe, adding that is aside from any degradation factors, which is built into the energy modelling. "And it's going to be 100 per cent clean."

The Community Energy Development Co-operative (CED Co-op) is fronting much of the bill for project development and construction

Jolliffe said they also have a power purchase agreement which will "arrange for the school to buy power that comes from the solar array, from the co-operative, so the co-op will make its investment back over time."

From the school's perspective, they get power for slightly cheaper than they would from the grid.

Not to mention, it’s creating new opportunities for students like Alyssa Panda. She's part of a special projects team that is overseeing how students can capitalize on this project, such as a student-built website to track the school's solar energy data.

"I'm 17-years-old. My entire life, I've been kind of told the way we get energy is bad and we need to find better ways to do it," Panda explained. "Also, my entire life, things like solar or wind or things that are more renewable have been this far away thing that we can't actually really reach."

Not only is it now within their grasp, but the work is literally happening above their classrooms.

"We want to weave this learning into every classroom, into all of the experiences as we move throughout our year," said school principal Josh Hill.

The project will provide more predictability with the school’s energy bills and use.

Work is expected to wrap up by the end of the school year – giving staff and students hope it will lead to a cleaner and brighter future.