Sustainability Update

Fairfield PS Solar Installation

Over the last school holidays, FPS coordinated the installation of an 80kW solar array on top of the BER (gym, music and OSH club building). This adds to the 6kW solar array already on our art studio and 5KW array on top of the Wingrove St building. The three together will allow our school to be effectively carbon neutral, generating more than enough electricity for all our operations during summer and approximately half our electricity costs during winter. 

While this impressive piece of renewable energy infrastructure has been paid for by the hard work of school community through fundraising at events such as trivia nights, art shows and school fairs, it will pay for itself within five years, providing ongoing savings for our school to invest in other areas thereafter. As a bonus, because the system effectively coats the BER, it will reduce the amount of heat penetrating the building, helping to regulate temperature and saving us further on cooling costs throughout the summer.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this project though is the educational opportunities that it presents. It comes with real-time monitoring software that will enable teachers to view our electricity generation throughout each day and across the seasons. This in turn will allow our students to learn about the movement of earth through the solar system, the transformation of light into electrical energy and the practical impact of energy conserving behaviours. 

Thank you so much to the team of people from our school community who were involved in developing proposals for school council, reviewing tender documents and providing the expert advice that ultimately determined the best outcome for Fairfield Primary School. 

Members of the FPS solar development project: Andrew Vance, Katherine Barraclough, Nat Power, and Andrew Watkins. Key reviewers of the project throughout the process included School Councillors Nathan Smeaton and Bronwyn Wolfgang, Paul Wallace and David Spears. We also acknowledge the support and guidance from Darebin Council.

~ Andrew Vance, FPS School Council & Buildings and Grounds Committee