A mellow, old Valley location is about to catch some rays.

Shawnigan Lake School is getting a $20,000 grant from the province to install solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on its campus.

It’s taken six months for the Valley private school to emerge as one of 11 institutions winning funding as part of a program operated by BC Sustainable Energy Association and SolarBC.

The idea is to help decrease hydro and energy costs and a total of 51 applications for funding were submitted from public and private schools across the province.

SolarBC has committed to contributing 90 per cent of the total project costs to a maximum of $20,000 for each school.

Shawnigan’s funding is going towards the installation of a 2.5 kW PV panel.

The final schools were selected by a committee consisting of representatives from the Ministries of Education and Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and SolarBC.

Selection criteria was based on quality of the application, the ability of the school to showcase a PV system to the wider community, and geographic distribution across the province.

The SolarBC initiative stipulates a number of commitments, which the school must fulfill in order to receive the grant.

One of the main requirements is ensuring student involvement in the design, siting and installation of the PV system.

Shawnigan science teacher Scott Noble, who has been a driving force behind the application as well, plans to work with his Grade 9 students this year. Lab work and fun activities such as solar car races will also be used to determine the best spot to capture the energy.

Noble is thrilled.

“Shawnigan is gradually moving toward becoming a fully sustainable institution. There are already many activities that students and staff are engaged in that support this cause, so I am confident that we will successfully incorporate activities into the academic program that promote solar power as a viable and worthwhile option as we strive to meet global energy demands,” he said last week.

The school must also monitor any savings, and report the results regularly to SolarBC as well as keep the project in the public eye. This may even include a real-time display of energy savings and evidence of the reduced carbon footprint.

School officials also hope that, having seen the results of their project, students will spread the good word to their families