Solar Panels - School installs solar panels

10/03/2008

A Yorkshire primary school is teaching a lesson about renewable energy, after it saw the installation of 24 solar panels.

The Green Energy for Schools programme, a £1 million Co-operative Group project with matched-funding from the government, has installed the £20,000 panels at Kippax North Junior and Infant School, reports the Yorkshire Evening Post.

The photovoltaic panels will generate around 3,300 kilowatts of electricity each year, reducing the school's annual carbon footprint by two tonnes.

Simon Williams, Co-operative's director of social goals, told the paper: "By switching on these solar panels, Kippax North Junior and Infant School is teaching the next generation about climate change, while setting an excellent example to other schools, businesses and homes in Kippax."

A monitor in the school will show pupils how much electricity the panels are generating and keep track of how much carbon dioxide the switch to renewable energy is saving.

The Green Energy for Schools scheme will install renewable energy solar panels at 100 schools across the UK.

In further efforts to save the planet, the school has also applied for planning permission to install a five kilowatt wind turbine to generate more renewable energy.