St Carthage’s primary school is even closer to God now, with the school roof now heralding a large cross in the centre of its new solar panel installation.

The new 100 kilowatt solar set up reaches for the heavens, and can only be seen from an aerial view, or by drone footage – which installer Nick Lake, of Nickel Energy said looked “fantastic”.

Nick said when the school approached Nickel Energy to put the solar system on the roof, his team worked on a technical design that incorporated 300 solar panels and encapsulated the spirit of the Catholic school.

“When we were exploring ideas for how to lay out the panels, we left a gap in the middle in the shape of a cross - and the staff and kids at the school were really pleased with it,” Nick said.  

Nick said the drive to get the solar installation came from the Year 5 students last year.

“The class was doing a project on sustainability and the students said they would love to see solar power on the roof,” Nick said. “So, their teacher engaged with the Principal and they got in touch with us.

“The idea tied in with the Catholic schools’ drive towards sustainability. The Pope made a statement recently about supporting renewable energy.

“We’ve also installed solar panels on a number of other Catholic schools.

“The solar installation will save the school about $33,000 a year in electricity costs.”

Nick said Nickel Energy has been in business in the local area for 12 years. 

“Nickel Energy also built the world’s first solar powered train which runs in Byron Bay to the Arts and Industrial Estate,” Nick said

“We won Australian engineering awards for it and now we are working with other countries who also want to build solar trains.”