A grade 11 Tantramar Regional High School student is the driving force behind new funding that could see the school producing some of its own power with a new solar panel array this year.
Josh Mullen has secured $30,000 in funding to go towards a solar array that he hopes TRHS students may be able to participate in installing.
In May, Mullen stopped by CHMA studios to tell us more about himself and the project:
Mullen decided to take on the solar project after a tip from a TRHS alumni and friend, Quinn MacAskill, who told him about the N:OW For Net Zero funding program, a youth-led initiative that provides curriculum and grants to Canadian schools, with a focus on climate solutions.
Mullen decided to take a stab at funding a project at his school, and within a year has put together $30,000 to go towards a solar panel array, with funds coming from N:OW For Net Zero, the MASU Green Investment Fund, and EOS Eco Energy.
Mullen says he’s not yet sure of the exact size of the solar array that will get installed, or where exactly it will go.
In 2022, the town of Sackville spent about $25,000 on a solar array at the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park building, and in its first full year of operation the array produced more than 12,600 kWh hours of electricity, which based on average emissions from NB Power, prevented about 4.2 tonnes of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change.
The idea of preventing further climate change is exciting for Mullen, but he’s equally excited about the other opportunities the project presents. “The solar panels themselves are really nice,” says Mullen, “but I think the biggest, one of the most influential outcomes of these solar panels is actually the impact it’s going to have on the kids.”
Mullen says the project will make his fellow youth more aware of what they can do to fight climate change. “It’s not actually some abstract, impossible thing,” says Mullen. “That’s something that we really need to focus on a lot more these days,” he says. “Not so much the bad stuff, but more so, how we can fight these things?”
“It’s not that hard, really,” he says. “We just need to work together. Just get to it.”
Mullen says he’s hoping the installation will happen sometime in the fall, when some TRHS students may benefit from the experience of seeing it in action. For students interested in the electrical field, says Mullen, “it would hopefully give them some experiential learning before they go into that work field… They could work with these electricians who are working on the solar panels and installing them, see how it works, and see if they like it or not, potentially making it a career for them later on.”
Mullen says he’s had support for the project from Janie Brooks, the Climate Change Projects Manager for EOS Eco-Energy, as well as TRHS staff. Principal Susan Lafford was “all for it” when Mullen first brought up the idea, he says, and teachers Matthew Wheaton and Jonathan Estabrooks have also provided help and advice. “They’re kind of kind of like my round table at the school,” says Mullen. “All three of them are really great helps all through the process so far.”
Lafford was not available for an interview, but said by email that the school has met with Anglophone East School District facilities staff “to discuss where the solar array may go and what it may power,” and that the district would be connecting with the installer to discuss what’s feasible.
Stephanie Patterson, the spokesperson for Anglophone East School District, did not have any comment on the project.
