The Jasper Joint School Facility will soon have 45 solar panels installed on its roof, 39 more than initially planned.
The electricity generated by the panels will be equivalent to powering two households, significantly reducing the school鈥檚 reliance on the province鈥檚 power grid.
鈥淲ith an array of 45 panels we can actually contribute to the energy usage of the school and the kids can track that and learn from that and see how solar energy works,鈥� said Magda Mahler, a member of the parent group supporting the Jasper Sustainability Club. for youth.
鈥淲e are really excited about it and we really want to get them up as soon as possible,鈥� she said.聽
The club initially wanted to install six solar panels on the school鈥檚 roof as a teaching tool, but after further discussions between the school and Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) they decided to expand the project so it would have a bigger impact.
According to Mahler, the division promised to pay for the installation of the panels if the sustainability club purchased 39 more panels, which is estimated to cost around $18,000.聽 聽
鈥淭hat was the quote that the school board got from one company,鈥� said Mahler, adding the club is still looking at other quotes to compare prices.
Cory Gray, superintendent of schools for GYPSD, was unavailable for comment.
The project initially got going in 2013, when a former Jasper Junior/Senior High School student won $10,000 worth of solar panels鈥攅quivalent to six panels鈥攖hrough a contest organized by Enmax Energy Corporation.
At the time, the Jasper Sustainability Club intended to use the panels for a sustainable classroom, but the SEED project took longer than expected to come to fruition so the club decided instead to install them on the school鈥檚 roof.
The SEED鈥攚hich stands for Sustainable Education Every Day鈥攊s a net-zero modular classroom designed to teach students about sustainable living.
鈥淏ecause the SEED project is taking a little longer we really wanted to get them up and use them,鈥� said Mahler of the panels.
She said the money to purchase the additional 39 solar panels is coming from the SEED project.
鈥淭here鈥檚 still lots of money there, but we wanted to get something going before these panels become obsolete because that would have been a real shame to not use them,鈥� she said, referring to the panels won through the Enmax Energy Challenge.
It鈥檚 unclear when the panels will be installed, but Parks Canada confirmed that it would need to approve the installation before the project can proceed.
Clark Builders, which built the joint school facility, initially agreed to install the six panels, but GYPSD and Alberta Infrastructure have agreed to work together to install all 45 panels
The joint school facility, which opened its doors in September 2014, was built with the necessary infrastructure to support geothermal and solar power, in the off chance that funding ever became available to pursue alternative energy sources.
The infrastructure was included at the request of the sustainability club, which was involved in the planning and design of the school and had originally hoped the facility would become the province鈥檚 first net-zero school.
As well as making the school more energy efficient, the solar panels will be used as a learning tool by both the Jasper Junior/Senior High School and 脡cole Desrochers, whose students will be able to use iPads to monitor the energy produced by the panels.
鈥淭hese panels come with a program that students can access where they can go online and get real-time data from the performance of the panels,鈥� said Mahler.
There have been concerns about the aesthetics of solar panels on the building鈥檚 roof, but Eric Bouchard, Jasper Junior/Senior High School鈥檚 vice-principal, downplayed them and suggested it would be beneficial for the panels to be visible.
鈥淔rom where I think they are planning on placing them, it will be hard to see,鈥� said Bouchard, during a parent council meeting March 14.
鈥淚鈥檇 rather them be visible, I鈥檇 rather people see that we鈥檙e doing this and that this is something we鈥檙e encouraging.鈥�
In addition to the solar panels, he also briefly mentioned the school is considering the installation of a weather station on its roof.
With files from Nicole Veerman
Paul Clarke [email protected]
