A solar electricity system installed at St Brigid’s Primary School in Healesville is now online. The system was installed by Healesville Community Renewable Energy using part of a $90,000 grant provided by the Federal Government in 2020. Yarra Ranges Council provided invaluable support in terms of financial and project management services. The system consists of 71 panels rated to produce a total of 32.6 kW of power.
Provision of the system finance has been structured as a loan to St Brigid’s. The school will repay the loan over a number of years funded by the school’s reduced power bills. Once the loan has been repaid the school will have the full benefit of the system and Healesville Community Renewable Energy will be able to reuse the repaid loan funds to fund a new system on another community building.
This is the third community building where Healesville Community Renewable Energy has installed solar systems under this model, the other two being the Robyn Jane Children’s Centre and the Healesville Living & Learning Centre. Both of those systems have previously gone online.