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Hawthorns Primary School |
The Project |
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| In October 2007, The Hawthorns Primary School became the first school in Berkshire to install solar panels. This was a culmination of work around a green educational project at the school and also a long-term commitment to teaching pupils about the environment. |
Objectives |
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- The primary objective of the project was educational and the solar panels have been a focus for lessons on global climate change and other environmental issues.
- The project had the direct environmental benefit of reducing the school’s carbon emissions.
Pupils became more generally environmentally aware.
- The school saved money on fuels bills and ultimately, made money by selling green energy back to the national grid.
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Funding and Implementation |
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The project began in 2005 when a borough council energy efficiency officer gave The Hawthorns School an energy audit to identify low or no cost ways it could save energy, including simple techniques such as pop-up messages reminding people to turn their computers off, posters reminding people to turn lights off, and improved insulation. These changes immediately produced a 10 per cent reduction in the school’s utilities bills. The money saved by these reductions covered half the cost of the solar panels, with the other half coming from a grant from the Low Carbon Building Programme which is administered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE).
At the time of the energy audit, the council’s energy efficiency officer also worked with teachers to develop lessons on topics such as climate change, pollution and renewable energy and so the energy saving went hand-in-hand with education from the start.
By May 2007, funding had been raised via the energy savings and grants to pay for the Sharp solar panels. The borough council got ten panels for the price of eight because it could guarantee another school in the borough (Southfield School) would also be ordering solar panels.
The Low Carbon Building Programme grant specified that the panels had to be in place within six months of the funding becoming available and this was achieved, with the solar panels unveiled in October 2007.
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The Outcomes |
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- The solar panels should last about 40 years and it is estimated that they will provide a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of approximately 220 to 260 tonnes during their lifespan.
- The savings on energy bills will recoup the school’s investment in less than eight years.
Knowledge regarding environmental issues is now firmly embedded into the curriculum and into the pupils’ mindset.
- Current and future pupils will benefit from the focus provided for green studies that the solar panels provide.
- Parents are reporting that children are coming home from school and telling them to turn lights off!
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