Powering sustainable education one school at a time

It’s been a year since Solar for Schools launched its ground-breaking partnership with National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) to unlock £2.7m worth of grant support for schools in areas of high economic deprivation.

The partnership, supporting schools across a 5-year period, has already enabled seven schools to go solar, making significant progress towards net zero goals in those regions. In each case, without the grant support, going solar would not be financially viable for these schools.

The grant impact in numbers, so far:

·      Seven schools now with solar on their roofs – across areas with high levels of economic deprivation. These include Ark Victoria Academy and Shireland Collegiate Academy both in Birmingham and Wallbrook Primary Academy in Dudley.

·      £56,000 saved in energy bills collectively across the seven schools so far.

·      55,571 tonnes of CO₂ saved as a result of those systems. That’s equivalent to 142,000,000 miles driven by an average sized petrol car.

·      6.8% of the total grant commitment by National Grid has been allocated to projects.

·      12 more schools in the pipeline, waiting to be built and more are signing up each month.

·      The partnership has enabled political advocacy, with two National Grid-funded schools meeting their MPs – including Jess Phillips MP - at our Parliamentary showcase event in November 2024.  More MPs are engaged with our organisation than ever before, with a proactive campaign which is galvanising young people to meet their elected representative and demonstrate democracy skills. The organisation is also engaging closely with councils in the West Midlands and South West, regions where NGED is the principal DNO.

More recently, Solar for Schools has also engaged with GB Energy, the Government-owned renewable energy investment body, working to help unlock funding for more schools. Find out more about our work with GB Energy here.

Igniting a spark at Ark Kings Academy

One of the schools benefiting from the National Grid grant scheme is Ark Kings Academy in Birmingham. With 70% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school - like many others – has financial and staffing pressures. The school was one of the first schools to go solar as part of National Grid support and in the last 12 months, since having a 49.8kWp solar PV system installed, Ark Kings has saved nearly £14,000 in its energy bills, and stopped 10 tonnes of CO2 .

A magnifying affect...

Ellie Patey, from National Grid Electricity Distribution explains: “This pioneering collaboration has proven greater than the sum of its parts, helping more schools to access solar panels and renewable energy education. Backed by £2.7m of National Grid funding over five years, the initiative is ensuring under-represented communities benefit from the net zero transition – unlocking multi-million pound energy bill savings, reducing carbon emissions, and bringing green jobs to life for young people.”  

Robert Schrimpff, CEO of Solar for Schools, goes on to explain the exponential impact the grant will continue to have: “This is a transformational partnership which ultimately enables over £10m worth of solar projects to be realised. These projects will achieve up to six times more CO2 savings than had National Grid donated smaller systems to schools on their own. We’re very proud to have National Grid on board with this grant scheme, and we’d love other organisations to follow their lead, to unlock even greater impact. This is hands-on, inspiring decarbonisation education that is literally funded by the sun”.

What next?

Are you from a school, or know a school, located in the West Midlands, South West or South Wales that would like to go solar? If so, it may be eligible for grant support to make solar a reality, and it could happen sooner than you think.

Click below to find out more…