run on sun Run on Sun Run on Sun Get your school to run on sun How every school can benefit from solar power foe.co.uk/runonsun

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1 run on sun Run on Sun Run on Sun Get your school to run on sun How every school can benefit from solar power foe.co.uk/runonsun

2 Contents 3 Clean, green and it pays 4 Huge financial benefits 4 Is there enough sun? Schools Run on Sun can save 8,000 a year 5 Can my school go solar? 6 How to pay for solar panels 6 The Feed-in Tariff 7 Will we need planning permission? 8 Case study 1: Saltaire Primary School, Bradford 10 Case study 2: Hanover Primary School, London 12 Next steps 14 Run on Sun 16 Contact details Solar for everyone Friends of the Earth wants to make sure every school that can benefit from solar energy has the chance to. Run on Sun Our campaign Run on Sun will make it as easy as possible for that to happen. This guide gives you the facts you need to take the next steps towards your school having its own solar panels. Are you ready to run on sun? Call or us today and join the growing community of schools running on sun. T: runonsun@foe.co.uk To get involved in Run on Sun, please turn to page 14.

3 » Solar energy in schools. How to get your school run on sun«clean, green and it pays Take a look up at your school s roof and you might feel the magical ping of a good idea: this school could run on solar energy. Solar panels convert the sun s energy into electricity. The school uses the electricity. Easy. This energy is clean and green because solar panels don t cause air pollution, contribute to acid rain or release carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases. What s more, a school can save up to an amazing 8,000/year by generating its own electricity in this way. This guide is a how-to for anyone who s thought Can we put solar panels on our roof? or Can we make money for our school if we had some solar panels? reduce their energy bills and produce clean power. Recently the UK Government has said that it supports solar energy for schools too. Many schools find their new solar panels (also known as solar PV or PV panels) are a fantastic educational resource. Teachers use them to spur interest in science and technology or to inspire wider environmental activities, such as eco-clubs. They can even help raise your school s profile locally. This guide gives you the facts you need to take the next steps towards your school having its own solar panels. Plenty of heads, school governors, parents and carers have already found the answer to both questions is yes. That s why schools all around the UK are fitting solar panels to 3

4 Huge financial benefits + = UP TO 8,000 YEAR Solar power can help schools save money. It does this in three ways: The electricity generated by panels while the school is open can be used for free, cutting your electricity bill. Depending on the size of your system, this could range from hundreds to thousands of pounds a year. Your school will also get paid for every unit of electricity the panels produce, whether it s used in school or sent to the national grid. This is called the Feed-in Tariff and the rate is fixed by the UK Government. You ll receive a payment for electricity that the school doesn t use this is sent to the grid for others to use. On school days this might not happen, but during weekends and school holidays it will. This is called an Export Tariff. Is there enough sun? Solar panels work well in the UK, and although bright sunshine is best, they will keep producing some power even on grey or cloudy days. For every 1 kw of solar panels installed in the UK you can expect to generate an average of kwh of electricity, with the highest amounts in the south, declining as you head north. Your system will come with a generation meter that tells you how much power it is producing at that moment, and how much it has produced altogether since you installed it. 4

5 Can my school go solar? Many schools are suitable. Here s what to consider: Do you have a flat roof, or a pitched roof facing south, south-east or south-west or even a south-facing wall? If yes, that s good news. No trees or buildings overshadowing the roof? That s also good news. Is the roof strong enough? It probably is, but a solar panel installer will be able to confirm this. If you decide to go ahead, you ll also need an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for your school building. Many schools have this already and there s no minimum standard you need to reach so it won t be a barrier. Check if you already have one by going here. ndepcregister.com/ reportsearchaddressbypostcode.html If you do need to get an EPC, find a registered assessor online at ndepcregister. com. The assessor should also be able to tell you how to improve the energy efficiency of your school. Some installers may carry out this assessment too if you already have an EPC check you aren t charged for another one. 5

6 How to pay for solar panels The Feed-In Tariff The Feed-in Tariff is a government scheme designed to support the development of small-scale renewable energy. For every unit (kwh/kilowatt hour) of electricity your solar panels produce you will receive a set amount of money. This is fixed at the time you register your panels, and then rises in line with inflation for the next 20 years. This means your panels can provide a guaranteed income, tax-free. The Feed-in Tariff provides a payment for every unit of electricity produced by your system, regardless of who uses it. This means your school will still earn the money even during the summer holidays, and at weekends. This doesn t mean the electricity is wasted; it is fed into the national grid to supply other users. The amount of money per kwh depends on how big your system is. Larger systems produce power more cheaply, so receive a lower payment. For a typical school system this is currently set at 12p per unit of electricity. While solar panels earn money over time, and prices are coming down, the up-front costs can still be significant, perhaps 20,000-60,000 for a kw system. Here are some ways schools have found to manage this 1 Your Local Education Authority helps pay for solar panels The easiest way could be to ask your Local Education Authority (Local Authority in Wales) to provide the capital at a zero or very low interest rate. Bradford Council is exploring how it can do this for all its suitable schools over a five-year period, using a council funding pot to provide a revolving fund. The school pays back the loan from the money earned by the panels, while at the same time benefiting from reduced energy bills. See the case study on Saltaire Primary School, on page 8. The Local Education Authority (LEA) might also have an existing contractor it uses for installing solar. This could keep costs down and reduce the amount of research your school would need to do. 2 Your council does it directly Some councils are putting solar panels on their LEA schools using their own local government funds. This is an easy solution for schools as they don t have to pay the installation costs and typically they will benefit from free or cheaper electricity from the panels. But it s the council, not the school, that gets the cash return. 3 Funding by community share offer Plymouth Council is working with a community energy co-operative to install solar panels on schools and other buildings. The council lends half the money; the rest will be raised from local people through a community share offer. The schools won t own the panels but they will get cheap electricity, and the community benefits. More information is available at plymouthenergycommunity.com. 4 You fundraise Try talking to parents and governors about whether the school could buy its own panels outright by fundraising. This is what the 10:10 campaign has been helping schools to do through its Solar Schools program providing schools with a comprehensive free toolkit of support and training. Raising the money can be a challenge and might limit the number of solar panels you can afford; but you get all the income and have nothing more to pay. Plus fundraising is a great way to get pupils, parents and your community involved and excited about your solar panels. solarschools.org.uk 6

7 5 You rent the panels from a finance company Solar panels provide reliable earnings. This means some financiers are willing to invest in putting large numbers of solar panels on schools. For the first seven or eight years the school pays the company back, using the money earned through feed-in tariffs and electricity savings; after an agreed date the school is able to enjoy the income and energy savings the panels provide. This option might suit academies unable to access local authority funding. 6 Sign a power-purchase deal with an energy company If you can t borrow or raise money yourself you can always make a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an energy company. They pay for and install the panels and keep the feed-in tariff and electricity. In return they sell you the energy produced by the solar system at a lower price. You might not always make as much money, but you ll pay nothing for the panels and you ll see a reduction in your energy bills, so you ll definitely benefit. At the same time you ll get to play your part in building a new green economy. 7 Other sources of funding to look out for If your school is an academy (not applicable in Wales), or the Local Education Authority (LEA) can t provide the capital, businesses and investors might be able to install systems with no up-front cost. Friends of the Earth is talking to commercial suppliers about being able to offer installations with no up-front cost. Like the rental deal above (5), these arrangements would see the school get the solar panels fitted for free, and pay the installer back over a few years using the savings on electricity bills, the Feed-in Tariff and the Export Tariff (see Saltaire case study, page 8). Will we need planning permission? You shouldn t need planning permission unless your school is in a Conservation Area, or is a Listed Building, or if the panels are significantly raised above the roof. Your local planning department should have this information on their website. For more information on planning go to planningportal.gov.uk. Also, see Hanover school case study, page 10. The problem is that this type of arrangement would constitute borrowing, and at present LEA schools and academies are not allowed to borrow without permission from the UK Secretary of State for Education. Friends of the Earth is working with the UK Government to solve this problem so please let us know if you are interested as it might help encourage companies and Government to resolve the issue speedily. Sacred Heart Catholic primary school (below) in Hammersmith, west London, was an early adopter. Image: Solarcentury Run on Sun 7

8 CASE STUDY 1 Saltaire Primary School, Bradford Saltaire Primary School, near Bradford in Yorkshire, recently installed a kwp solar system on its roof. This was paid for with a loan from the Local Education Authority (LEA). In the first year the panels earned the school Over the next 25 years Saltaire Primary expects its panels to earn it at least 60,000 nearly three times the cost of the panels. How has this been worked out? The kwp system generated 14,714 kwh from Sept 13 to Sept 14. For every kwh produced, the school will get paid the Feed-in Tariff, regardless of where it s used. So 14,714 kwh x p/kWh = 1850 per year (note that the Feed-in Tariff is index linked and will rise every year in line with inflation). As well as the Feed-in Tariff, we can estimate that the school uses about half of the electricity generated by the panels directly in the school. This means that it needs to buy less electricity from the grid (at 10.8p/ kwh), saving it around 794 per year (7,357 kwh x 0.108). Finally, the school gets paid the Export Tariff of 4.7p/kWh for the electricity it doesn t use directly, earning a further 346 per year (7,357 kwh x 0.047). As the cost of power rises in the future, these savings will increase. So, 1, = 2,990 per year, rising in line with inflation. Given that the initial system cost about 23,000 to buy and install, this means it should pay for itself in less than eight years, and will keep earning money for at least a further 17 years (solar panels last at least 25 years). The money s good, but there are other benefits too. Over their lifetime the panels on Saltaire Primary will prevent the release of around 195 tonnes of carbon dioxide. If every school in England and Wales did the same it would prevent the emission of more than 5 million tonnes throughout the year. Would calculations like this be an interesting way to get your school s students talking about the power station that could be on their roof? 8

9 Ù Saltaire Primary School, West Yorkshire, expects to earn at least 60,000 from its solar panels. à Count me in (bottom right): children at Saltaire Primary School made a giant sun from their hand prints to celebrate their solar panels. Run on Sun NOTE: kwp stands for kilowatt peak you ll see kwp when you decide what size system of solar PV panels to install. The energy generated by solar panels is measured in kwh or kilowatt hours. Our learning and our play are powered by the sun Saltaire School, Shipley, Yorkshire. 9

10 CASE STUDY 2 Hanover Primary School, London Run on Sun Ú Natural energy: Hanover Primary School pupils take it all in their stride as their new sports hall boasts an array of solar panels. Five years after floating the idea of solar panels, Hanover Primary School, in London, is putting energy into the grid right now and reaping the rewards. Today a bright LED display in the lobby shows the school has generated nearly 10,000 kwh of electricity and saved more than 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Clean green energy is part of the furniture. In 2009 school governors began talking about installing solar panels. A grant from Islington council, combined with a big refurbishment paid for by the Government, covered the costs. They even overcame an 11th hour obstacle when English Heritage listed the building as Grade II which meant no solar panels on the old building. The answer to clad most of the south face of a new sports hall in solar panels. A vertical solar farm overlooking the new playground. And that's the way it is today thanks largely to three things: 1. School governors: Long before the project started the governing body decided the building should be carbon neutral a critical step that shaped the outcome. 2. Council: Islington had ambitious carbon-cutting targets. It worked with Hanover to make the capital budget cover the solar panels. 3. Feed-in Tariff: The potential to generate income was important to showing that solar wouldn't be a luxury for a school. Today ask the children what they think about the panels shimmering over the playground, and they tend to shrug as if it's the most natural thing in the world. "It's where we get our electricity," says one. Hanover s Head, Amanda Reese, says: "It's been seamless. No disruption to electricity supply. The panels look great very modern. We don't make a big song and dance about it, but we're quietly proud to have been among the early adopters." 10

11 It's been seamless. No disruption to electricity supply. The panels look great very modern Hanover s Head, Amanda Reese 11

12 Let s get started Saltaire Primary School, recently installed a solar system on its roof. It s now earning the school roughly 3,000 per year To take the next steps towards having solar energy in your school, please get in touch with Friends of the Earth. If you re not sure if solar panels are right for your school, ask us and we ll help you decide. Please runonsun@foe.co.uk for further details. The more schools that want to take part the more pressure we can put on councils and the Government to make things easier for schools. Talk about it We re keen for you to spread the word. Can you share your ideas on social media? Talk to governors, parents and carers about Run on Sun. Friends of the Earth can provide template press releases for you to tell the local media about your plans. Share your news with other local schools (including your school cluster) and LEA. Sharing the success with your pupils Schools that have already gone solar have said it s a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn more about energy and the environment. Friends of the Earth is developing activities and materials for primary school assemblies, small-group work and after-school clubs. Please get in touch if you d like a pack: runonsun@foe.co.uk. If we hear from enough secondary schools that they would like materials for assemblies, we ll produce a pack for them. Please tell us if you re interested at runonsun@foe.co.uk. Switch-on celebration Once the solar panels are up, celebrate. Invite your MP, councillors, local businesses, parents and carers everyone who has supported you in making it happen. Friends of the Earth would be delighted to attend too. School not suitable for solar panels? Every school can save money by being more efficient with the energy they use. The Carbon Trust has a comprehensive guide for schools on how to cut energy waste carbontrust.com/resources/ guides/sector-based-advice/schools 12

13 Many schools find their new solar panels are a fantastic educational resource There is also funding available for energy efficient projects through The Salix Schools Programme which provides 100 per cent interest-free loans for schools in England. To find out more and apply to the scheme visit, see salixfinance.co.uk/ loans/schools-loans Run on Sun Û A meter shows how your solar panels are performing this school has produced megawatt hours of electricity and saved nearly 2 tonnes of carbon. Ý St Breock Primary School, Wadebridge, Cornwall. 13

14 Run on sun Sign up to Run on Sun with Friends of the Earth and we ll give you: Dedicated helpline to support you throughout Advice on which funding model would be best for your school Information on existing schemes offered in your area Support from our national network of local groups Access to exclusive school activities to make the most of going solar* Colourful materials to show your school s support* Free link to your school on our online map* Call or us today and join our growing community of schools run on sun. T: runonsun@foe.co.uk *also available to schools which already have solar panels. Û Support team: Friends of the Earth is here to help your school run on sun. 14

15 run on sun Friends of the Earth Trust, registered charity , company number March 2015

16 Contact details Run on Sun Friends of the Earth The Printworks 1st Floor, 139 Clapham Road London SW9 0HP United Kingdom Tel: If you would like a printed copy or more copies please the team at runonsun@foe.co.uk