Solar power at schools could save our education sector a fortune, explains energy expert

Jannie Mouton’s family trust offered R7.2 billion to purchase Curro Holdings and transform it away from being a profit-making listed company.

The schools will operate as non-profits and all surpluses will be reinvested into classrooms, bursaries and school expansion instead of being paid out to shareholders.

Dr Sam Duby, co-founder of The Future of Energy, says this similar process could be used at other schools across the country, and the best step would be to leverage solar energy for schools.

Duby says Mouton’s initiative shows that we can do things differently at schools, and solar energy is "low-hanging fruit".

He said their organisation was suggesting they fund a solar system for a school.

The school will then buy energy from them, which creates a revenue stream to help maintain the system.

The rest of the money will be used for a school improvement fund and a pay-it-forward fund, which can be used to electrifyanother school every five to seven years.

"The school is saving enough money just by buying cheaper power from our organisation, which frees up enough money for them to get another teacher, plus they can reinvest," says Duby.

The funds could also be used to pay back shareholders who finance the panels upfront.

To make this work, he says the company needs a bit more magnanimous capital to start the process.

To listen to Duby in conversation with Clarence Ford on CapeTalk’s Views and News, use the audio player below: