Bartholomew School
Eynsham, Oxfordshire, July 2012
Overview
Bartholomew School in Eynsham came to Southern Solar looking to save money on their energy bills and provide a learning resource for their students. The roof of their sports hall now boasts a 37kWp solar PV system.
During term time the school is expected to use most of the energy generated by the system but during school holidays the surplus will be sold back to the National Grid.
Changes to the government’s feed-in-tariffs (FITs) resulted in a number of reductions to the rates offered for solar-generated electricity. Fortunately the cost of solar installations has also dropped, enabling Bartholomew School to self fund the project, benefiting from a tariff of 15.2p/kWh for all the energy it generates.
The school is a high energy user so maximises the financial benefits of producing their own electricity by utilising most of it on site during term time. During the school holidays they can export the energy they produce back to the grid.
Our Solution
The school looked at a few options for renewables and chose solar as it provided the most benefit to the school.
The 37kW system is expected to prevent 14,846kg of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and will act as a teaching aid in Science and Geography lessons as well as in PSHCE programmes, which teach community responsibility. Mr Hamilton, Headteacher says "Renewable energy is an important part of how we educate them [the pupils] to become global citizens"
Facts
System: 37kWp
Yield: 28,065 kWh
CO2 Savings: 14,846kg/year
Panels: 149 x 245W modules
The school has a strong commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, achieving a silver Eco Schools Award, a project that was largely student-led with support from members of staff, raising awareness of recycling and energy usage.
The school is very energy aware, implementing a new energy management system using the Stark online energy management system as a resource, which enables the school to draw reports of their monthly, weekly or daily energy use "Now, if we want to install 30 new computers we know what impact that will have on the school’s energy use"
Mark Harrison, Site Development Officer
Bartholomew School has a strong sense of community, opening up its sports hall to members of the public to use in order to get the most out of the facilities, even when school isn’t in session. This movement was very much led by the school itself who roped in the council in order to make it happen. Now that the roof of the sports hall is solar powered, the benefits of generating their own electricity can be experienced even when the school is closed.
Our Client Said
"We were reassured by their [Southern Solar's] status as an Oxfordshire County Council approved installer. The detailed information they provided us with in the quotation and system installation proposal gave us more clarity and confidence about what we were spending our money on."
Mr Hamilton, Headteacher
"They [the pupils] want to know what’s happening with energy use and they are much more aware of the issues that come with it. It’s great for them to see the impact renewable energy can have in practice, rather than it just been talked about in lessons, they can see it making a real difference to their school."
Mark Harrison, Site Development Officer