Solar Roof Project

Rising energy prices, climate change and energy security problems are challenges that affect us all. Most of the time we are confronted with negative and depressing news about this, but today we can bring you some very positive news!

When you arrive at the School’s car park, it is almost impossible not to notice the solar panels that cover the roof of Keir Hall. In December last year, the 104 PV (Photo Voltaic) panels were supplied and installed by Skyreach Solar, a company of which Kevin Manners (parent in Class 6) is one of the owners. The PV panels will generate sustainable energy for the coming 25 years by converting sunshine into electricity. The annual electricity production will be approximately 25,000 kWh per year. This is roughly 80% of the annual electricity use of the School, or equivalent to the annual electricity use of 7 average UK households.

It’s obviously a great idea for the School to generate its own green electricity; however the investment involved is quite significant. The school does not have the funds to pay for the investments themselves and anyway it is not the ‘core business’ of the school to invest money in electricity generation. Hence we developed an alternative approach. Parents, but also other people out in the wider Community, came together to start a new company to invest in the solar panels. This company owns the solar panels and rents the roof from the school. In return, the school will receive free electricity from the solar roof and we expect that the School will receive between £40,000 and £50,000 of free electricity over the lifetime of the project. The ‘investors’ will receive a payment for each amount of electricity generated by the solar roof. This is done under the so-called Feed in Tariff (FiT) scheme, regardless of whether the electricity is used by the School or exported to the wider electricity grid. This will give them a good return on their investment.

I’m really excited about this project and I believe that what we did at the School is a model for the future: generate our electricity locally but also invest our money locally. It is a true win-win situation: the School benefits by making their roof available for solar panels and getting free electricity in return, the parents who invested will benefit by receiving a good return on their investment and the environment benefits from the saving in CO2 emissions. So no losers? Not quite: the big power companies and the banks are losing out, but I believe we can live with that.

As well as the solar roof on Keir Hall, you will see PV panels on various buildings at Sturts Farm that were put up some time ago. However I believe there are still more south facing roofs available in our Community, so if there is anyone else interested, I would be delighted to see if we can do another project (please write to me at ringwoodsunroof@gmail.com).

You might also want to consider generating your own renewable energy at home or work. Please speak to Kevin; he can not only advise you on PV panels, but also on other forms of renewable energy like biomass and heat pumps :

Kevin Manners by clicking here at  Sky Reach Systems or tel 01202 525 056.

And now let’s hope that we will have a sunny summer!

Esbjörn Wilmar