The Strait Area Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College has been selected for the Solar Electricity for Community Buildings program.
Derek Mombourquette, the province’s energy and mines minister, made the announcement at the campus Monday.
There were 27 applications selected to the program in 2018.
The campus will have 75 kilowatts of solar panels installed in the field next to the fire school through the program.
After the announcement, Mombourquette said NSCC students could be looking at future work field technology.
“We want to expose students as much as we can to these technologies, whether it’s solar, (or) there was a very large announcement on tidal last week in the Bay of Fundy,” he said. “These are very important to these schools that continue to enhance their programming for students to ensure that they’re ready for the workplace.”
Mombourquette said witnessing a greener province is a good thing for everyone, but especially students, as they may find work in more non-traditional energy technologies.
Tom Gunn, the NSCC Strait Area Campus’ principal, said they’ve been on track to hit their emissions reduction goals.
“Since 2008-09, we have reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 39 per cent,” he said. “Our goal is to hit a 40 per cent reduction by 2020, so we’re pretty close to that goal.”
Gunn said they’ve committed to long-term goals of 60 per cent reduction by 2030, and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050.
He said the solar panels will also be learning opportunities for some students.
