The Solar Schools project ran from 2011 to 2016 with the goal of crowdfunding the cost of solar panels for their school roof. You can watch a short video explaining the project below:
Solar Schools was run by 10:10 (now Possible), a charity that brings people together to help tackle climate change. They described it as:
The Solar Schools project is putting clean energy in classrooms all over the country. Schools set a fundraising target for their very own solar roof, then everyone chips in to help make it happen.
It’s a chance for pupils, parents, local businesses, former students and everyone else to do something good for their school, their community, and the whole world. Together, they make amazing things happen.
Solar Schools is run by 10:10, a charity that brings people together to help tackle climate change.
They closed the campaign in 2016 with the following blog post:
After five incredible years, we’re writing our last blog to say that the Solar Schools project has now closed.
Its been an absolutely fantastic five years and we can’t thank you enough for getting involved and helping to make the magic happen!
Since 2011, 80 communities have rallied around their schools with an ambitious aim: to go solar.
Everybody has got involved. Pupils ran conkershys; parents got their workplaces to donate, teachers stayed late to run solar sleepovers.
There is so much to celebrate! Together our schools have installed over 2000 panels and got more than 30,000 pupils involved in renewable energy. The team who’ve taken part have come away with new skills, stronger community ties and a more sustainable school for the future.
Here’s to the last five years of awesomeness, Schools, we salute you!
Despite the magic Solar Schools has created, we felt the time had come to shut up shop. Unfortunately, due to cuts to subsidies for solar, the returns for installing solar were drastically reduced. As well as this, with the reduced subsidy a system of deployment caps has been put in place.
These create a level of uncertainty which is often unsuited to the careful investment planning decisions taken by schools. With these changes, we felt the model was less attractive to schools.
Asking people to commit to a year of fundraising £10k+ for little pay back seemed like quite the push, so we decided to close the project. However, don’t panic. We closed up shop because we know there are other options out there. Solar is still possible if you want it, don’t be deterred.
Overall, they worked with 80 schools, from Stockton-on-Tees to the Scilly Isles, who together raised £723,000 and installed 2370 panels. That adds up to 38,940 baby elephants worth of carbon saved!
For more you can read the full story about Solar Schools on the Possible Website.
There also seems to be similar project called Solar For Schools which can be found at https://www.solarforschools.co.uk/
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