• See the full list here.

There are around 2,500 schools around the country and, as the Government said in a release, “340 schools in the North Island, 157 in the South Island and three in the Chathams will benefit from this practical, forward-looking initiative that turns sunshine into savings and gives power back to schools".

"The 500 schools have been selected because they are experiencing energy or fuel insecurity, facing higher energy costs, are scheduled for gas or diesel boiler replacements, or have a need for greater energy resilience."

Disappointingly, many of the installs are just 10kW, which is only slightly bigger than the average household install in Australia.

EECA modelling using a 30kW system (which we believe is also quite small given the amount of roof space many schools have available) show schools could save around $8,000 per year on their bills. Some larger schools are receiving installs over 100kW and there is already a high level of interest from the industry in participating in the programme.

Importantly, Stanford said in a release that this scheme would free up money that can be spent on teaching and learning, something we have advocated for strongly. We have asked the Ministry of Education to clarify that the savings from operational budgets would be put back into other areas in the schools to help kids.

Up to 150 of the schools will also receive energy management systems, and selected schools will receive batteries "where they are expected to deliver the greatest savings and community resilience benefits."

With the bulk of a school's energy use happening during the day, more solar is a no-brainer, more school batteries are a growing opportunity, and more energy literacy is needed for the 16% of the population at a school every day - and, as we've seen at schools that already have solar, a tangible demonstration is a great way to get kids engaged early.

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