New partnership hopes to power up York’s schools (Feb 17, 2021)
Valentine’s Day may be over but a new partnership in York is hoping to bring a little sunshine into York classrooms. York Community Energy is joining forces with Solar for Schools to get clean energy from rooftop solar panels flowing into as many York schools as possible.
Solar for Schools have worked with over 60 schools across the UK to install rooftop solar panels, providing schools with clean, cheap electricity at no cost to the school. Alongside this they offer an educational programme, teaching students about electricity and renewable energy.
York Community Energy has long held the ambition to install rooftop PV arrays on community buildings in York. But since the removal of financial support for small-scale renewables, installations like these have become difficult to do. YCE chair Tom de Simone said: “We’re very excited to be able to partner with Solar for Schools and gain the advantage of their very specialist expertise in developing these projects, bringing community renewable energy to York.”
Both organisations are social enterprises motivated by the need to wean society off fossil fuels. In the long term, the partnership is hoping to work toward these installations being owned by the local community. Shannon Jackson, Project Manager for Solar for Schools, said: “York Community Energy is ideally placed to help schools in York explore the options to have solar power by installing solar panels. Local connections are vital and with our experience of how to make it work for schools, we hope this will be a winning combination.”
Tom de Simone said: “This is a great way to play our part as a city facing up to the climate crisis. We’d love to hear from any environmentally-minded students, parents or teachers interested in helping to bring clean energy to their school. Let sunshine win the day!”
Anyone interested can reach York Community Energy via social media or email at info@yorkcommunityenergy.org.uk.
York Community Energy is an independent, volunteer-run charitable organisation (currently incorporating as a Community Benefit Society) promoting community-led actions to reduce the carbon emissions of energy use both through renewable generation and energy efficiency measures. It was formed in
2015 and has over 130 members.
For more information see https://yorkcommunityenergy.org.uk.
Solar for Schools is also a Community Benefit Society, set up in 2015 to own the assets of solar panels on schools. It operates nationwide and has over 60 schools with over 4 MW of power. Its members are the schools with the solar panels and it has over 350 ethical and sustainable bondholders who invest in the systems. It works closely with Solar Options for Schools Ltd, a social impact company, to deliver the systems.
For more information see https://www.solarforschools.co.uk/