Schools To Be Retrofitted With Solar Panels

Fifteen primary and secondary schools across the island are to be retrofitted with solar panels by the end of the summer.

“We (Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica) are retrofitting the schools with solar and the project is valued at about $60 million. The first set of components has already been imported. They are being cleared now,” Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hillary Alexander, told JIS News.

In an interview following the launch of the Graduate Internship Programme at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) on Trafalgar Road, in New Kingston, on July 8, the Permanent Secretary added that the PCJ would finish the project by the end of  summer.

The project is also being done in partnership with the Education Ministry. “We’ll be working with the Ministry of Education very closely and looking at the quality of the infrastructure as well. Not everything can accommodate the solar panels. We got some information from them last week on some of the critical infrastructure assessments that were required before the roll out can be started,” the Permanent Secretary said.

Solar power is an environmentally friendly form of energy source. For a long-term, sustainable energy source, this renewable form of energy offers an attractive alternative.