As one of the oldest, largest and proudest all boys school in KZN, Maritzburg College is proud to lead the way with the recent large solar panel installation covering the roof of the school’s Alan Paton Memorial Hall which was completed in December 2021.
As a school that is 100% committed to being environmentally responsible, our primary goal was to reduce College’s carbon footprint, and meet its biggest demand during daylight hours.
This installation gives the school an uninterrupted power supply should the ESKOM grid go down.
We are also committed to play our part in assisting ESKOM by reducing demand on their infrastructure that is severely under pressure.
College is now generating up to 212 KW of renewable energy from the sun. Its current demand of 75% of the harnessed daylight power reduces reliance on ESKOM-generated power.
In addition to the school’s nearly 500 boarders, College has 52 teachers residing on campus with their families, all now on renewable energy, providing a significant financial cost saving.
Funding for this R2.5 million project came from the school’s Old Boys Association (which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2022) and the Maritzburg College Old Boys Trust, for which the school is extremely grateful.
Key benefits going forward will be securing a stable power supply for the 25 hectare campus, needed to support the technology-driven education of around 1340 boys, while reducing the school’s dependence on a very expensive and uneconomical generator, and of course, greatly improving the school’s carbon footprint.
Maritzburg College is proud to continue to lead the way in this significant cost-saving and environmentally conscious initiative.
An aerial view of the top of the Alan Paton Memorial Hall with the solar panels