Solar schools still in the shade

Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday 5/8/2009 Page: 6

NO PUBLIC school in NSW has yet been able to install solar panels funded by a $300 million national program because the State Government has insisted on a centralised tendering process. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, announced the funding more than a year ago, and dozens of schools in other states have the panels operating. The State Government believed getting schools to operate together as a block would deliver better value for money, but critics say the process has been slowed down by red tape.

"We're missing an opportunity for schools to cut their emissions, for students to see first hand what this technology is all about, and to engage in the solution," said Chris Andrew, a sustainability expert and parent with two children in a public school. This is not about being an environmental zealot, it just makes practical sense to get solar panels installed as soon as possible when the money has already been sitting there for some tine." School principals in some other states and territories can make funding submissions directly to the Federal Government, but in NSW they apply to the Department of Commerce, which acts as the middleman in negotiations with solar companies.

A lengthy tendering process concluded on June 11, and three companies, BP Solar, Solgen Energy and Bovis Lend Lease, were engaged to fit panels. NSW schools are entitled to $92 million of federal money, and up to $50,000 is available to a school for solar panels and other energy efficiency measures. The program is part of the state's plan to make all government agencies carbon neutral by 2020, a goal likely to be achieved by a combination of emission cuts and purchasing carbon offsets.