QUICK QUOTE

Contact Us

March 27, 2025 In Schools, Solar

Solar schools and Great British Energy’s first major project

Great British Energy has shared the news that it is investing £180m for solar to be installed on school rooftops and NHS buildings. As a team regularly installing solar on schools, and working closely with a number of NHS Trusts, Joju Solar enthusiastically welcomes this “first major project”.

 

The Great British Energy Plan

Great British Energy is owned by The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. As well as focusing on sustainability, the company aims to redirect millions of pounds to frontline services, targeting deprived areas. They forecast lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400m over 30 years.

In terms of timescales, the target is to install the first panels by the end of summer, to reduce the cost of energy bills. Schools and hospitals will also be able to sell surplus power back to the grid.

 

 

The current situation and potential savings

GB Energy suggests that currently, around one in five schools have solar panels installed.  The figure is fewer than one in ten for hospitals. Their estimates show that a typical school could save up to £25,000 a year if solar panels are installed alongside complementary tech, like battery storage. The potential average annual saving for NHS sites was shared as £45,000.

 

In their own words

Energy secretary Ed Miliband commented:

“Great British Energy’s first major project will be to help our vital public institutions save hundreds of millions on bills to reinvest on the frontline. Parents at the school gate and patients in hospitals will experience the difference Great British Energy can make. This is our clean energy superpower mission in action, with lower bills and energy security for our country.”

GB Energy chair, Jurgen Maier, said the project would be a testbed for future work, as the company looks to invest £8.3bn over the course of the current parliament.

In addition to the funding for schools and hospitals, local authorities and community energy groups will be supported with funds of almost £12m to help build local clean energy projects.

 

Joju Solar’s work with schools and the NHS

We’ve been helping to create solar schools for many years now and we’ve seen, first hand, the tangible difference it makes to communities.

From installing solar on 90 schools in Hampshire, to our ongoing, award-winning work with North Lincolnshire Council and North Lincolnshire Community Energy, it’s so rewarding supporting schools to reduce their energy bills, cut carbon, and inspire students.

As part of our installations, we’ve held workshops in schools and had lots of heart-warming discussion with young people, focusing on the green transition and the difference solar schools are making to their local communities. Students are always eager to share knowledge about creating a sustainable future, and we can’t wait to do more.

We’ve also been working with a number of NHS Trusts on different sustainability projects, and look forward to continuing and expanding our partnerships.

 

 

Be Inspired by energy from the sun, and the community impact  

Brentside Primary Academy solar panels
June 10, 2024 In News and Events, Schools, Solar

Spotlight on solar this Great Big Green Week

The Great Big Green Week has begun. It’s the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature, and we are right behind it!

Supporting energy change

Community action to bring about climate change, and more specifically energy change, is something we wholeheartedly support. In fact, we built the very first community-funded solar project in the UK, and have been responsible for nearly 10% of all community renewables in the UK – all of it rooftop mounted solar.

We work closely with our friends at Energy4All. It’s a partnership which has helped to bring about some incredible community energy projects, including installing an iconic solar array on Salisbury Cathedral, a 1.3 MW portfolio of community funded installations for M&S, and our 636kWp installation at Prodrive with the Low Carbon Hub. This became the largest community funded roof in the country.

 

 

Energy4All work with communities to develop these innovative renewable energy projects. They raise the funds for them to move forward, and we install the solar. We’ve recently finished one such community project and we’d love to share it with you, to celebrate The Great Big Green Week 2024.

Solar schools – Brentside Primary

Let’s shine a light on Brentside Primary Academy, a two form entry academy situated in Hanwell, in the London Borough of Ealing.

We’ve just installed 41.71kWp of solar PV here, helping the school make the transition to renewable energy. It’s part of their efforts to reduce carbon emissions and make the school more environmentally sustainable. With an annual predicted generation of 37,580 kWh and CO2 savings of 7.78 tonnes per year, they are certainly well on their way to achieving their ambitions.

 

 

Brentside Primary was keen to swap to solar as it

“takes the pressure off the wider national grid infrastructure, and with the increased demand for electricity, the use of clean, renewable energy has never been more important. We would like to thank Energy4All and Joju Solar for making the project possible”.

Brentside’s solar installation is part of the portfolio of projects made possible by The Schools’ Energy Co-operative – a co-op installing community-funded solar panel systems on schools free of charge, as well as paying all its profits to its member schools. At Joju Solar, we’re very proud to be part of it.

 

 

Swap Together 

So, this Great Big Green Week what will you swap? Have you got plans to change the way you generate or consume energy? Are you interested in running your home with solar energy? Does your workplace have a large roof that would be perfect for solar panels? Perhaps you’re a school that would love to follow in the footsteps of Brentside Academy?

If this Great Big Green Week (or any week!) you’d like to explore changing the way you generate and consume your energy, we’d love to help.

Just get in touch with us here and let’s create a green future together.

Get involved

 

 

Egni Coop, Awel Amen Tawe, Newport, solar, schools
March 19, 2020 In Community, Public Sector, Schools, Solar

How to install solar in schools

We’re currently building a 2MW community energy scheme with a Welsh community energy group called Awel Amen Tawe.  Their Egni Coop is working with Newport Council to install solar on their schools and other public buildings such as the velodrome.  Dan McCallum from Egni Coop, has written this rather excellent blog piece, looking at the finer details of the project panning and installation process.

READ MORE

January 5, 2017 In Community, Schools, Solar

Our schools are proud to be solar schools

Installing solar PV systems at schools around the UK is one of the things we are most proud of at Joju. It is immensly satisfying to bring solar energy in to the academic environment for children. As we know that not only do school solar PV systems generate huge savings for the school but they also act as a tangible learning tool for teachers to use to educate pupils on power, electricity, energy and most importantly of all how to tackle climate change. We have heard time and time again how pupils at schools, where we have installed solar PV, have benefitted in their learnings from having a solar PV array installed.

Over the last few years we have worked particularly closely with Solar Schools,which is run by 10:1o, a charity that brings people together to help tackle climate change. The Solar Schools project’s aim is to put 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.

What makes installing solar PV in schools most satisfying though is when the school itself is so proud to become a solar school.

Schools like Dulwich Primary School who have a direct link from their school website to the Joju Monitor of their array. Or Eleanor Palmer Primary School who feature infomation on their solar array in the Eco-section of their school website demonstrate this sense of achivement in becoming a solar school.

It is essential for schools to show climate leadership and educate children on the facts about energy and climate change so that future generations growing up understand the responsibilities they will face in the future. School science and geography education has changed substantially over the last few decades to incorporate the influence of man on the planet in to the core syllabus and using something as tangible as a solar PV system is an extremely powerful tool for teachers.

If you are a parent who is interested in solar PV for your child’s school or a teacher or governor interested for your own school then please do not hesitate to get in touch. As well as solar PV we also install other energy saving solutions for schools like LED lighting.

solarschools-1010-06052015-058 st-lukes-sponsored-day-3