100th UK School gets solar
Solarcentury CEO Derry Newman (left) and Len Wardle, Chair of the Co-operative Group with the '100th school' plaque presented to Peacehaven school.
And it's all thanks to possibly the most ethical company in the world: The super fantastic Co-op. Not only have they covered their entire 24-floor office block in solar PV, but since then they've donated over 1 million quid to get solar on 100 schools. This huge donation has really helped jumpstart the Government's Low Carbon Building Programme, which offers 50% grants to Public Sector bodies.
The Co-op kicked off their 'Green Energy for Schools initiative' last year and recently Peacehaven Community School in East Sussex was the 100th to receive solar panels under the scheme. £10,000 came from the Government's LCBP grant scheme, £10,000 came from the Co-op and Solarcentury managed and installed the panels, via our partners SEC, under our Solar4schools programme.
Helen Cryer, headteacher at Peacehaven Community College celebrates with the school's pupils
Each system is expected to generate more than 3,400 units of electricity, powering over 18 computers, or 33 thousand hours of computer use, at each school every year. But when you think about how much energy a school uses, it's still a drop in the ocean and 100 schools is only 0.4% of the primary and secondary schools in the UK.
If the UK is going to stand a chance of meeting the our 2020 or 2050 targets for reducing CO2, we shouldn't just be installing 4kWp systems. We should be installing 200kWp systems, to make meaningful contributions to our school's electricity bills and achieve the deep cuts in CO2 emissions we need, if we're really going to stand a chance of slowing global warming.
The local community, the teachers and 'champions' at Peacehaven were all supportive of the scheme and the kids we met clearly knew more than most about energy and the role of renewables. Installing solar on a school is a really powerful way to spread knowledge of energy efficiency and renewables.
Science class - Peacehaven pupils learn more about solar
An average junior school has about 100 pupils in each year, so about 10,000 pupils per year will pass through the Co-op's solar schools. Considering each of them can be taught about solar and climate change with the Solar4Schools education packs and will tell mum and dad and a few others about the project, roughly 50,000 people a year will get to hear about solar. And considering the panels are guaranteed for 25 years, 100 installations will touch on the lives of roughly 1.2million people!
So, solar on 100 schools is a great start and the Co-op are clearly blazing a trail by investing their money so constructively. But the UK needs to do more. Which is why the Co-op aren't stopping now. Having completed the first phase of the scheme, they've now announced another £1m for renewable technologies and laid down a challenge to other UK businesses to do the same. With such generosity, ethics and vision it's hard not to love the Co-op!
Would your kids school like a solar installation? Can you think of a company that might sponsor them? A tiny donation from a large corporate can go a long way, when combined with the LCBP scheme.
The Solar4schools Team - Solarcentury