Genesis School-gen Trust helps school go solar

Sawyers Bay School near Dunedin has sustainability and environmental education woven through its day-to-day curriculum. But at odds with that ethos, the school was heated by a coal boiler dating from 1956 that Principal Gareth Swete was keen to retire as soon as he could find a low-emissions replacement.

So when Gareth heard the Genesis School-gen Trust was opening applications for schools to receive a solar package, he didn’t hesitate to apply.

In January 2022, a 9.36kW Solar PV system was installed on the roof of the main school building. Nine months later the coal boiler was shut down and around $2000 of saved energy costs were channeled into learning programmes for the school’s 140 students.