Solar panels to be installed on roof of Surrey school

Students at Princess Margaret Secondary School in Surrey, B.C., will start installing 24 solar panels on the buildings roof this morningthe first ever electricity-producing panels in the school district.

Instructor Don Zaklan says the16 Grade 11 and 12 students in the electrician pre-apprenticeship program will do the wiring and installation.

"These students that I am training are just starting in the electrical industry," he said.

"They will be electrical apprentices. They are going out to work this summer with jobs as electrical apprentices and this is a real electrical job and this is new technology that they are installing, so they are quite excited about it."

Students raised $7,300 through bake sales, bottle drivesand T-shirt sales to help pay for the solar panels.

The panels will generate 5,200 watts of electricity, which accounts for about four per cent of all the energy used in the school.

Zaklan says the panels even work on cloudy days because all they need is daylight.

Tuition for the electrical pre-apprenticeship program is paid for by the school district.