Three schools in Canada’s East Coast province are proving that youth-led renewable energy can happen right now, right at school.
New Brunswick, a small province on Canada’s Atlantic coast, might not be the first place that comes to mind when you picture a renewable energy revolution. But in three of its schools, students aren’t waiting for someone else to flip the switch. They’re climbing onto rooftops, running cable, and making the case, loudly and clearly, that young people belong at the centre of the energy transition.
Harbour View High School‘s climate action club has never been short on ambition. Over the years, students have built hydroponics systems, hosted community workshops, and even written books on environmental advocacy. But when they turned their attention to the school building itself, a structure over a hundred years old, they decided it was time to take on a new challenge.
The club’s answer was solar panels on the school’s roof: a tangible, trackable climate solution that could serve as a living education tool for the school’s 900 students and 70 teachers. The installation also sparked a year-end community climate event that drew 300 local residents.
Student lead Grace put it plainly: “I hope this project helps people understand the importance of renewable energy, but I also hope it sparks a domino effect for other people to stand up and act on what they believe in.”
Solar panels are, as we know, really huge and heavy! But so is the weight of the climate crisis among youth in New Brunswick. Teamwork is a sure way to tackle the energy transition, giving students the hands-on and critical-thinking skills to accomplish anything they put their minds to, like what these students from North and South Esk Regional are doing here. Photo courtesy of N:OW for Net-Zero.
Sackville sits beside the Bay of Fundy, where sea-level rise is already visible and worrisome for locals. Students at Tantramar Regional High School knew their local electricity grid was mainly powered by polluting fossil fuels, amplifying their problems. With these unsustainable issues in mind, student lead Joshua Mullen secured over $30,000 in funding and led a ground-mounted solar array installation that is now estimated to save 2,500 kilowatt-hours of energy and offset 600-700 kilograms of carbon emissions every year for his community.
The project successfully went far beyond installation. Students in the trades program worked hands-on with professional solar installers, the environmental club handled outreach, and the financial class took on budgeting. In April 2026, Josh hosted a Solar Showcase, a community event drawing students, families, and local residents to celebrate the panels and hear from the installation team. CBC even published a feature on the project, and MLA Megan Mitton delivered a congratulatory statement at the provincial legislature the following month.
Working with local environmental non-profit EOS Eco-Energy was a game-changer, giving the team access to existing knowledge on solar installations, school board processes, and contractor relationships that would have taken months to build from scratch.
Josh’s reflection on the experience captures an important sentiment: “Our community is located near marshes and the Bay of Fundy, meaning sea level changes are already starting to impact us. We see the impacts of climate change firsthand, so there’s a big appetite for action.”
Students at Tantramar Regional High School gather to learn about installing their solar panels, which they secured through $30,000 in fundraising led by Josh Mullen, an inspirational trailblazer and new high school grad from Sackville, NB. Photo courtesy of N:OW for Net-Zero.
Not every solar story moves in a straight line, and North and South Esk Regional High School is proof that persistence matters just as much as momentum. In this small rural school of 180 students in northern New Brunswick, solar panels are now on the roof, the shed is insulated so batteries can function through harsh winters, and a student-led hydroponics system is under construction through an Environmental Science class. Two classroom teachers have independently set up mini indoor hydroponics systems, with plans to eventually transfer those plants into the outdoor growing space.
The road here wasn’t without bumps. A key shop teacher went on leave mid-project, two student leaders graduated, and shifting staff roles meant the project lost some of its curriculum integration. But rather than stalling, the adult lead launched monthly Climate Club staff meetings to keep teachers coordinated and accountable, weaving the project back into the classroom one course at a time. It’s a quieter kind of progress, but it’s still real, and it’s being built to last.
Together, these three schools tell a fuller story about the power of renewables. Solar energy projects in schools are surely expensive and energy-intensive to install, organize, and maintain, but the results directly move us away from emissions we simply can no longer afford. And throughout the entire process, if done meaningfully and openly, students can learn that the energy transition is something they can touch, measure, and lead, starting on their own rooftop, in their own community, right now.
