Hrvatski Telekom and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are installing demonstration solar systems in 10 schools in Croatia
21.3.2013
On 21 March, the Šimun Kožičić Benja Elementary School in Zadar became the first one of 10 selected schools to have a solar tracker installed – a device that tracks the sun throughout the day, like a sunflower. This is part of a large project, worth 400.000,00 HRK, financed by Hrvatski Telekom and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Each „solar sunflower“ will produce certain amounts of electricity, but it will also serve for educating school children about the benefits of renewable energy. Similar systems will also be installed in schools in Dubrovnik, Hvar, Zadar, Kaštel Lukšić, Krk, Pula, Križevci, Zagreb, Ivanić-Grad and Vukovar. In addition to the UNDP, education of school children on renewable energy sources in ten schools will be conducted by the Society for Sustainable Development Design (Društvo za oblikovanje održivog razvoja - DOOR), while the Eko Kvarner Organization will be involved in promotional activities.
„As the Stone Age did not perish as a result of lack of stones, but rather due to the advent of technology, now is the time to make the step from the age of fossil fuel to the age of renewable energy,“ said the UNDP Project Development Expert Robert Pašičko. „It will start with people, education and information, and this is the project that will demonstrate how awareness is built from an early age, offering the opportunity to create a green economy, new jobs and a less polluted environment.“
"In all our activities, we are fully aware of the importance of the notion of sustainability, as we are convinced that true progress can come only if we fully respect both the people and the planet," explained Pero Čosić, Sales Manager at Hrvatski Telekom. "By this project, we wish to contribute to learning, already in the school age, how to differentiate aspects of the present by the consequences they may have for the future. To turn to the sun and contribute to clean air, while making use of the benefits brought by fast technological progress – this is a winning combination."
With the newly installed photovoltaic systems, the schools will each year, throughout the next 25 years, cut electricity bills by approximately 2000 HRK per year. The school children will be able to track information on produced electricity by the system on the Internet, where it will be shown how much electricity was produced by which „sunflower“ throughout a given hour, day, month or year, and compare the data with solar sunflowers in other schools. Reduced CO2 emission will also be monitored. Once the systems are up and running, more than 1000 school children will undergo training in solar energy each year. Moreover, these systems will enable the schools to apply for a permit to include the produced energy in the network, thus generating revenue from the sale of electricity.
"The installation of a solar sunflower on our school ground is very important both for our school children and for their mentors: the acquisition of knowledge and awareness on a live example of renewable energy sources,“ said Marko Marin, School Director in Zadar. „This way, scholl children will learn about acting responsibly towards natural resources, which is a credit for the future. For practical utilization of energy sources, the mere existence of such resources will not suffice; such utilization must also be technically feasible and economically viable. Here, the school children will learn through lectures and on this practical and direct example, how the Sun's energy can be used."
Zadar has been a logical choice for the first city where a solar sunflower will be put into operation, as it is the city as well as the first Solar Energy Education Center established by Zadar County and the UNDP in 2011 to promote wider use of renewable energy sources and provide education on ecology-friendly „Green Jobs“. In addition to education, the Solar Education center in Zadar also runs an Energy Efficiency Information Center which provides the citizens with free-of-charge information, including those on the benefits and costs of implementing solar systems, and on technologies available on the Croatian market, as well as on possible incentives that are available for promotion of system implementation.