MTG Energy Solutions provides installation and maintenance service for school solar panels.

The energy challenges for schools

The Carbon Trust estimates UK schools could reduce their energy costs by around £44 million per year; offsetting 625,000 tons of CO2 per annum.

Implementing simple energy efficiency measures such as solar PV panels not only cuts costs but is likely to improve conditions for pupils.

Both schools and academies are pushed to make the most of their resources while providing a solid education for students. Investing in solar panels and making improvements to sustainability saves money; offering an effective means to releasing funds for curricular resources or facilities.

Although solar PV poses a smart investment, many schools have restricted budgets or understandably prefer to spend their capital elsewhere. We have therefore partnered with some of the UK’s best financial institutions to offer a range of solar finance options for schools and academies.

Solar panels benefits for schools

Schools are the perfect case for implementing solar panels. The Department for Energy & Climate Change (DECC)has split the key benefits into three categories:

  1. Reduced electricity bills: schools can make significant savings on their electricity bills, allowing them to spend money on educational and recreational programmes, not on energy. Solar panels can generate electricity for more than 40 years so the cost savings will go on for some time and likely to be substantial.
  2. Reducing CO2 emissions: combating climate change by significantly reducing the school’s greenhouse gas emissions. Using the above example, a medium-size system can reasonably expect to mitigate several tonnes of greenhouse gas emission each and every year, creating significant CO2 savings over the lifespan of a system.
  3. Education and engagement: being able to communicate to the pupils the benefits of sustainability through a working example of renewable technology in their own school will provide more direct engagement, particularly in the subjects of geography, science, design and technology and IT. This can also help to inspire the wider community to take action to address climate change.