Bristol Schools Receive Solar Energy Boost
Dozens of Bristol schools are seeing their electricity
bills shrink as a massive programme of investment in solar energy by Bristol
City Council reaches completion. Believed to be the largest of its kind in the
UK, the initiative will save the local authority almost £60,000 each year.
Renewable energy specialists Solarsense have installed
solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roofs of 35 schools. It will not only
greatly reduce the schools' electricity costs but also earn the city council
money under the Government's Feed-in Tariff, which it can then use to reinvest
in further projects.
The initiative will significantly reduce Bristol's carbon
footprint, enhancing its reputation as one of Britain's greenest cities.
Generating a total of more than 550 kilowatts at peak
power, it is thought to be the largest solar energy programme for schools by a
local authority.
The new solar arrays are the combined size of almost 15
tennis courts and will generate nearly half a million kilowatt hours of free
electricity every year - enough to meet the needs of more than 140 typical
homes.
The solar arrays will also save around 280 tonnes of
carbon dioxide
(CO2) a year from being pumped into the atmosphere by
burning fossil fuels - about the same amount of CO2 as produced by driving a
car 42 times round the equator.
The installations have been carried out as part of the
council's Energy Management Unit's £1 million PV for Schools programme, with
the first completed at a secondary school, Redland Green, last October. More
installations have followed at another secondary school, St Mary Redcliffe and
Temple, and 33 primary schools across the city.
One of the largest installations is at Ashton Vale
Primary where solar PV panels on the roofs of the hall and early years building
are generating 25 kilowatts at peak power and cutting electricity bills.
Data from the PV array and a weather station will feed
into an interactive web page so pupils can find out how much electricity is
being generated for the weather conditions and carbon emissions saved.
Headteacher Vivien Champeney said: "Our new solar PV
system has a significant financial benefit as we will not be paying for any
electricity generated by the PV system and we will spend the money saved on
improving teaching and learning for our children. It will also help them appreciate
the importance of renewable energy."
Council leader Barbara Janke said: "This has been a very
ambitious project working with 35 schools across the city that is helping to
cut bills and save energy. There has been great enthusiasm shown for the project
by the staff and pupils at Ashton Vale and in all the schools that have taken
part, and they should be congratulated. This project is a good example of the
type of investment we want to see on a much bigger scale through out £140
million energy investment plans."
Steve Barrett, Managing Director of Solarsense, said:
"Installing solar PV systems at so many schools is a very visible demonstration
to the community of how renewable energy can reduce electricity bills and
carbon emissions and help make Bristol the UK's greenest city. All this solar
PV will mean a bright future for the whole community as well as the schools
involved."
The Bristol schools' solar PV is the latest successful
completion by the North Somerset-based Solarsense. It recently installed an
integrated PV roof on the new Montgomery Primary School at Exeter, helping it
become the UK's first zero-carbon school.
