Information on Solar Schools

 

Inspire a new generation of green thinkers

 

Schools are fantastic places to install solar technologies. As well as saving the school energy and creating revenue through the Feed-in Tariff or Renewable Heat Incentive, installations also act as inspiring educational tools for future generations, providing both practical scientific experience and an awareness of environmental sustainability.

 

We work with schools across the south, who tell us about the positive power their solar installation has had on the school community:

 

 

• Bartholomew School, Eynsham, uses its installation as a teaching aid in Science, Geography and PSHCE lessons;

 

• Headteacher Mr Hamilton says: “Renewable energy is an important part of how we educate pupils to become global citizens”.  Mark Harrison, Site Development Officer, adds: “It’s great for them to see the impact renewable energy can have in practice; they can see it making a real difference to their school.”;

 

• When Hounsdown School in Hampshire had a Solar Thermal installation for their swimming pool, they found the data produced by the system was a great educational resource. We can add weather stations, real-time visual monitoring systems and datalogging software to your installation so that pupils can interact directly with the data on a daily basis;

 

• Oxfordshire Quaker school, Sibford, felt that installing a Solar PV system reflected their ethos of living a sustainable and ethical lifestyle, after other building work left them feeling that their sustainability commitment had not been met;

 

• Some schools, such as Kings International School, put considerable energy saving measures in place but still find themselves with very high bills. We worked with Kings to reduce their dependency on expensive oil and install a Solar Thermal system to meet their school kitchen’s high hot water usage;

 

• Solar is a great way to meet criteria and move your school closer to achieving Eco School status.

 

 

What about school holidays?

 

A major consideration for schools is what to do during the holidays. With Solar PV it’s straight-forward, as the surplus generated gets sold back to the Grid. With Solar Thermal systems, we install a heat dump that removes heat during the holidays, making sure the system doesn’t overheat and no energy is wasted.

 

Why Southern Solar?

 

We have worked with nurseries, playgroups, primary and secondary schools; from academies and local authority educators to independent and specialist schools. Our experienced teams know how to work around school scheduling and access needs to make the whole process hassle-free. We love working with teachers and pupils to provide learning resources, talks and demonstrations about solar and other renewable energy solutions.

 

 

• Over 10 years’ experience in Solar PV and Solar Thermal system installation of all scales;

 

• We are the only solar supplier to be recommended through Which?;

 

• We hold ‘Approved Contractor Status’ under the NICEIC; MCS accreditation; Solar Trade Association membership; Constructionline, CHAS and EXOR scheme membership; and all our installation staff are CSCS registered and H&S trained;

 

• With all our installers, project managers and electricians in-house, we offer full turn-key solutions you can trust;

 

• We employ local people in all our regional branches and use local suppliers and manufacturers where possible;

 

• We have full CRB disclosure and run checks on all staff involved in school projects.