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Special school achieves solar first for NSW

Swimming lessons are about to get a whole lot better for the children of St Lucy’s Primary School in Wahroonga.  After the installation of a brand new solar and lithium-ion battery system during the holidays, the students will now enjoy their lessons in warm water all year round.

“We are incredibly excited to embrace this new energy battery storage technology” said Susan Jones, Deputy Principal from St Lucy’s.   “This will enable us to heat the pool, save on energy costs and do our bit for the environment.  From every angle there is a positive” said Ms Jones.

St Lucy’s School is a Catholic primary school in the Dominican tradition for students with disabilities.  St Lucy’s has an enrolment of 140 students.  The school provides excellence in education that empowers students with the values, knowledge, attitudes and skills to flourish and participate fully in society.

Over the holiday break, Red Energy donated and installed 95 x JA Solar 265W polycrystalline panels on the gymnasium roof and a Panasonic lithium-ion 8kWh battery.  The installation will generate approximately 40,770 kWh’s per annum.  Enough energy to run the pool pump and heating system all year round.

“The swimming program is incredibly important to the students on a number of levels.   All children need swimming survival skills but kids with disabilities can be at even higher levels of risk when it comes to water safety.  The children also love the freedom of mobility the water brings – so to be able to extend our season and potentially use the pool all year round is just wonderful” explains Ms Jones.  “In addition we plan to use the $5,000 we save annually on electricity to invest in our literacy program. We are extremely grateful to Red Energy for their generous philanthropic support.”

Iain Graham, CEO of Red Energy estimates the solar and battery system will cut carbon emissions by 55 tons per year.  The equivalent of six Australian homes.   “The St Lucy’s story is a great example of the benefits the solar and battery technology can bring.  We saw an opportunity to be able to help a school that’s doing great things for its community in a really tangible way.  The solar and battery package is not just going to heat the pool, but it will save the school thousands of dollars on energy which can be diverted into its learning programs.”

System information:

System size: 25.175kW

Panels: 95 x JA Solar 265W polycrystalline Inverter: Aurora/ABB Trio-27.6TL-OUTD

Mounting system: Clenergy Battery system:

Panasonic Lithium-ion 8kWh – LJ-SK84A

System performance visualisation: MyWatt online platform

Estimated system generation: 40,7701kWh’s per annum

Estimated electricity consumption offset: 31%2

Estimated CO2 emissions reduction: 55 tons per annum.

The equivalent of 6 average Australian homes.

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