A new age of solar for UK schools?

When I first heard about Labour’s plans to create a national energy company, inevitably called Great British Energy, I had one immediate thought: stick solar on schools. Also hospitals and public sector buildings generally. Start there, and a whole load of vital public services will get cheaper energy, saving taxpayers money and easing the stress on budgets.

Today Great British Energy announced their first big project, and it is indeed exactly that. £80 million has been assigned to solar for schools and £100 million for NHS sites.

As a Climate Action Advisor to schools with Let’s Go Zero, I see firsthand the difference solar panels can make to a school. It reduces costs, hedges against price spikes, and it’s a very visible form of climate action. Children take pride in them and in their school playing its part. The panels in the picture above are on the roof of Chiltern Academy, who I helped to get set up with some energy monitoring recently. Their solar array has generated over 3,104 kw of free energy so far this year, with the sunniest months yet to come.

Unfortunately there is a recurring response when the subject comes up with most schools I work with: we can’t afford it. A lot of schools that have solar got it over a decade ago, when there was funding available and the feed-in tariff was in full swing. It’s been harder more recently, though plenty of schools find ways to do it through fundraising, careful budgeting or signing a commercial lease. One of my schools inaugurated a new solar array last week, funded through the government’s Net Zero Accelerator programme. Lots more schools will now see similar benefits.

Among the less tangible benefits is the fact that solar can be a catalyst for a wider conversation about energy in schools. It’s a great way to launch or re-emphasise behaviour change measures that can cut carbon and bills. “When staff and students are actively involved in energy-saving habits and sustainability initiatives, schools maximise savings, deepen learning, and create a culture of climate action that extends beyond the school gates,” says head of Let’s Go Zero Alex Green. “Let’s Go Zero look forward to supporting the government to realise this potential.”

I hope to be a part of that myself, as details emerge of who can apply and how. My only hesitation is that £80 million doesn’t really go very far in the grand scheme of things. The press release suggests 200 schools. I could claim almost half of that without leaving Luton, and it wouldn’t stretch to all the schools in Bedfordshire. This project will only reach a small fraction of the UK’s 24,000+ schools. So let’s consider it a starting point. Let’s prove the concept, demonstrate the difference it can make, and come back for a billion or two to finish the job.