Member Article

Eco-pod using solar panels to generate funds for school

A new eco-pod classroom opened at a school in Liverpool is not only highly energy efficient but it is helping to raise income for the school through solar panels on the roof.

Twelve panels have been installed on the roof of the classroom at Childwall Church of England Primary School in Liverpool by Renewables4Business, a firm which specialises in providing energy reduction technologies.

The panels will provide electricity for the national grid for which the school will receive money from the feed-in tariff. Additionally the school can benefit from being able to use the electricity for free and so it saves them drawing from the grid. As the school opening hours are usually daylight hours it coincides with the generation time frame from the solar panels.

Gary Brandwood, Sales and Marketing Director of Renewables4Business, sees that by installing the solar panels the school’s has been forward thinking: “Installing the panels on what would otherwise be ‘dead’ space is going to raise valuable funds for the school.

“They will provide regular and on-going funds from the feed-in tariff with the school having to do very little. The amount the tariff is relatively consistent each year as the rates are fixed and it is possible to provide an accurate estimate of the electricity the panels will supply. It is an approach which other communities could consider as part of their fund raising activities.”

The eco-pod classroom, which is clad and cedar and real oak flooring, has been designed to maximise efficiency and has gained a rare A+ Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and a carbon neutral status.

Canon Gary Renison, Chair of Governors, said: “As a school with a distinctive Christian ethos, we are delighted with the Pod. As well as being a beautiful and contemporary space for us to use in a variety of ways, the Pod models something fundamental about our understanding of how we should manage the earth’s finite resources.”

Gary concludes: “Taking advantage of the renewable energies technologies fits with the ethos of the school and also helps to show the children the long-term benefits that can come from creating energy from solar panels.”

You can contact Gary Brandwood directly at Renewables 4 Business on 01925 764586.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Lomas .