Climate change is a major challenge for us and our young people. We all have a responsibility to help Hong Kong and the world decarbonise so that future generations can enjoy living in a healthier and more sustainable planet.

Solar Harvest, a solar energy support scheme for schools and welfare non-governmental organisations (NGOs), is one of the diverse community schemes by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) to promote renewable energy (RE), combat climate change and foster a zero-carbon lifestyle among the young generation in Hong Kong. Launched in 2019, Solar Harvest has entered its fifth year, a good time to recapitulate its progress and the value created to date.

Promoting renewable energy in Hong Kong

Solar Harvest aims to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at eligible non-Government and non-profit-making schools, as well as welfare NGOs receiving recurrent subventions from the Social Welfare Department. Schools and NGOs successful in their applications will receive one-stop service from EMSD, including site visits and technical assessment at their premises, design of the solar PV systems, equipment procurement and installation, and system testing.

One of the participating schools under Solar Harvest

EMSD will also help the participating schools and NGOs apply to join the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Scheme of the two power companies, so that they not only become grid-connected RE producers and users but also generate recurrent revenue from the FiT Scheme for ongoing maintenance of the RE systems. Meanwhile, all capital cost and expenses related to the solar PV system installation, including cost of application to join the FiT Scheme, are fully covered by Solar Harvest. Installed alongside the PV system is a real-time monitoring system to show the generation system’s operation, including its power output, accumulated electricity generated, solar irradiance and ambient temperature. The data can be used for analysis and educational purposes, arousing students’ interest in science and promoting low-carbon living. The scheme thus enables schools and NGOs to experience first-hand the process of setting up a PV system and its benefits; and provides a valuable opportunity to show students and NGO stakeholders the value of RE in the wider context of the city’s decarbonisation efforts.

As outlined in Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, one of the HKSAR Government’s medium-term targets is to phase out coal for electricity generation and replace it with natural gas and other lower carbon emission as well as zero carbon energy such as RE by 2035. Indeed, the HKSAR Government is committed to increasing the share of RE in the fuel mix for electricity generation from less than 1% at present to 7.5% to 10% by 2035; and has invested over HK$47 billion in the last decade to implement various energy saving and RE measures, including infrastructure, business/ trade, and community programmes to reduce waste and carbon emissions. Solar Harvest is one of the community programmes which dovetails with the HKSAR Government’s medium-term targets and long-term strategy to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050.

Solar Harvest to date

Solar Harvest is a five-year project from 2019 to 2024, with the aim to provide funding and professional support to enable eligible schools and NGOs to design and install rooftop solar PV systems. With a generation capacity of 10 kW per PV system, the scheme is estimated to generate about 6.3 Million kWh electricity annually from its total of over 7,000 kW PV system generation capacity at schools and NGOs by the end of the project. The scheme is open for application once a year, and participating schools or NGOs may also apply for funding to install additional PV systems, up to a maximum of three PV systems per participating school or NGO.

As of February 2024, over 700 PV systems are installed in eligible schools and NGOs and about 80% PV systems have already installed and joined the FiT Scheme, generating and feeding over 9 Million kWh of zero-carbon electricity into our city grid since 2019.

However, EMSD’s work does not stop at the completion of the PV systems engineering works. In fact, our role to add value begins only after the rooftop PV systems become operational, as we have gone the extra mile to turn Solar Harvest into a public education platform so that teachers, students and their families and friends can understand more about solar energy and help spread the RE message. This will encourage more people to adopt and appreciate RE and expedite Hong Kong’s transition to low-carbon energy.

Harvest, sustain, cultivate

Solar Harvest is much more than engineering and installing solar panels. It comprises various support features which enable users to fully enjoy and appreciate the value of a solar PV system. The scheme is a multi-dimensional initiative to promote the development of RE and a zero-carbon lifestyle among our future generation via engineering work as well as youth engagement activities, including the development of a Solar Harvest Educational Kit tailored for primary and secondary students. It is the unique 3-in-1 concept of “harvest, sustain and cultivate” that has won Solar Harvest the Award “Innovative Energy Project of the Year for the Asia-Pacific Rim region” from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) in 2021. As stated in EMSD’s AEE submission, Solar Harvest has been designed to enable participants to “harvest” solar energy, “sustain” their carbon reduction practices, and “cultivate” the young generation’s RE and climate action awareness.

The Educational Kit

Throughout the Solar Harvest scheme, we make sure that green elements are incorporated as much as possible, such as using recyclable aluminium racks to support the solar panels. Eco-friendly bricks, or bricks left over from other works at the participating schools or NGOs, have been used to add weight to the racks to prevent them from being blown away in strong winds or typhoons. Some schools have also placed potted plants around their solar panels to create a green roof. Upon the school’s request and where the environment permits, we have also installed the solar panels in creative shapes such as a heart or the school initials.

Educational kit box set for the training workshops

Another exciting development was the launch of Educational Kits for primary school and secondary school in September 2022 and September 2023 respectively, for use from the same academic year onwards. Jointly developed with the Environment and Ecology Bureau (EEB) and the Education Bureau (EDB), the Solar Harvest Educational Kits consist of eight themes each, catering to different levels of primary and secondary students.

The primary student kit aims to help school children better understand renewable clean energy through interactive learning and aspire to a low-carbon lifestyle, while the secondary student kit puts more emphasis on scientific analysis with showcases of different interesting experiments. Thanks to EDB’s support and input, we have been able to enrich the content of the kit, so that the kit would have the opportunity to be included in the primary and secondary school curriculum. The stamp of approval from the EDB will no doubt boost the positive impact of the kit on students.

How the Educational Kit works

The Educational Kit is based on the STEAM learning approach, which uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points to enhance students’ inquiry, dialogue and thinking abilities. All relevant presentation slides and teaching materials of the kit are freely available on the EMSD website (https://re.emsd.gov.hk/english/gen/4S/4S_Education_Kits.html) for the public’s perusal and use.

For primary school teachers interested in using experiential learning tools, the primary student kit contains optional interactive items including a solar powered cart assembly kit, VR goggles, miniature solar panels and a small LED light and fan, all designed for hands-on activities and can be readily procured from the market. While the solar powered cart kit provides a fun assembly activity for students to learn the theory of RE and its application, the miniature solar panels demonstrate how they produce energy to make a light and fan work.

Students testing their solar powered carts after the assembly activity

The VR goggles, made from simple paper glasses, are supported by a VR interactive platform on the Internet which EMSD produced with input from teachers at participating schools. As the rooftop PV systems may not be accessible to all students for safety reasons, the VR goggles cum video can give students a highly realistic 3D experience of the key PV system features, complete with detailed explanations and real-time energy data. The virtual tour of the rooftop PV system will trigger students’ interest in classroom learning, discussion and group projects.

The modular approach of the Educational Kit means that it can be easily updated and expanded, such as adding a solar power torch, making the kit highly dynamic in its future evolvement. The torch works with or without sunlight, which introduces the concept of stored RE, using conventional rechargeable batteries.

Student and teacher engagement

We believe users’ input is crucial to the success of the Educational Kit. Working with professor from The University of Hong Kong, we have solicited the views of about 120 teachers from participating primary schools on the content and prototype of the primary student kit at different stages of its development. The interactive process ensured that the final version of the kit is interesting and useful to the effective learning of RE and related sustainability concepts. About 600 primary schools are fit to use the Solar Harvest Educational Kit, reaching about 300,000 students in Hong Kong.

Now that the Educational Kit has been launched, the next step is to invite teachers to training sessions to familiarise them with the usage of the Kit. The first face-to-face training session was held in January 2023, attended by 80 enthusiastic primary school teachers who all received a free Educational Kit. The training session proved valuable not only for exchange of views about Solar Harvest and the Educational Kit, but also enabled us to know more about the needs of teachers and students on RE and other sustainability topics.

Way forward

The Educational Kit is one of the tools in the Solar Harvest scheme to promote the wider use of the RE and spread the RE message in the community. By providing teachers with interesting and readily available materials and experiential learning tools, it saves them the trouble of creating their own teaching materials from scratch and ensures that the RE information and messages are accurate and up-to-date.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, has interrupted normal school life and NGO activities in the past few years, and Solar Harvest has inevitably been impacted, imposing difficulties on the promotion of the scheme and the installation of the system.

Overall, and despite COVID-19 interruptions, we are delighted that the Solar Harvest scheme has already helped install over 640 rooftop PV systems at schools and NGOs throughout Hong Kong, reaching a total of about 300,000 students and NGO stakeholders, not to mention their families and friends in the community. We estimate that, by March 2024, it will achieve a total of over 700 PV systems at schools and NGOs, reaching a total of about 330,000 students and NGO stakeholders.

With enthusiastic support from participating schools and NGOs, we believe that the scheme has indeed “harvested” solar energy, “sustained” their carbon reduction practices, and “cultivated” the young generation’s RE and climate action awareness. We look forward to seeing more RE promotion endeavours for the community in the future.