New solar projects include the largest primary school solar PV installation in Oxfordshire

23 Oxfordshire schools are now ‘live’ in the Low Carbon Hub’s Solar Energy for Schools scheme

Oxford, UK ~ A ‘community-benefit’ collaboration between 23 local schools, award-winning social enterprise Low Carbon Hub, and installation partner Joju Solar has resulted in the largest solar installation on a primary school in Oxfordshire, and one of the largest in the UK.  

With 384 panels on its roof, Orchard Fields Community School became host to the biggest solar PV installation on a primary school in the county when it ‘went live’ this month. 

The Orchard Fields project is notable not only for its size but for a technology innovation: it uses an export limitation device specially designed for, and approved by the regional grid operator. This allows the project to generate the maximum amount of clean energy possible over the whole the year without overheating the cable between the school and the substation.

Other primary schools that went live this year in the Low Carbon Hub’s Solar Energy for Schools Scheme are: Botley, Bure Park, Chilton, Fir Tree, Middle Barton, Nettlebed, Stonesfield, Thomas Reade and West Kidlington.

The schools will all receive discounted renewable electricity for 20 years, and make a significant contribution to reducing Oxfordshire’s carbon dioxide emissions. 

Low Carbon Hub’s Solar Energy for Schools project will see 5000 solar panels with an installed capacity of 1MW installed on 23 schools across the County by April 2016. These installations will prevent the emission of up to 5000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. The schools project will also generate up to £50,000 a year in community-benefit funds for further community energy projects. (Low Carbon Hub’s Solar Energy for Business project, which includes solar PV installations with Norbar Torque Tools, Oxford Bus Company and Prodrive, will contribute a further £600K+ to community-benefit renewables projects over the next 20 years.)

The Low Carbon Hub’s community benefit model is a win-win for all involved. Individual schools have been struggling to develop renewable energy in isolation because of the high upfront costs. By working together with Low Carbon Hub in a community-benefit model, schools can get solar energy at no cost to themselves and generate funds that make additional renewables projects possible:

• Low Carbon Hub raises funds for a number of schools solar PV projects at the same time by providing an ethical investment opportunity—a Share Offer—to the wider community 

• the Hub develops the solar PV projects and partners with a local installer 

• local investors get a good return and help make further community-owned renewables projects possible

• host schools get solar panels, maintained for 20 years, at no cost to themselves, cheaper, cleaner electricity and a way to avoid climate-changing emissions

• Low Carbon Hub gets an income stream from energy generation and export to re-invest in additional schools and community renewables projects, and 

• up to 11,000 children across the county get a great way to learn more about climate change and the benefits of renewable energy.

This ‘virtuous circle’ of re-investment also provides a promising model for addressing the county’s energy efficiency and fuel poverty needs. 

Anthony Simpson, Schools Project Manager at Low Carbon Hub, said “Solar projects are an inspiration to children and staff, and also provide a uniquely effective educational resource. Children can monitor how much energy the panels are generating relative to the weather, learn about tracking these relationships in graphs, and gain a better understanding of climate change, renewables and community energy.” 

Dawn Shilston, head teacher at Orchard Fields Community School said, “This project has been an invaluable exercise in educating our pupils on the importance for us all to explore the possibility of using renewable resources for our energy.”

You can view details of Low Carbon Hub’s growing family of local community funded energy projects here: www.lowcarbonhub.org/project-category/completed-projects.  

If you would like to be informed about future community energy share offers from Low Carbon Hub, please sign up to the newsletter on the homepage of Low Carbon Hub’s website www.lowcarbonhub.org.

The Low Carbon Hub, Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council are working in partnership to take action on energy across Oxfordshire. The partnership is called OxFutures and is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme of the European Union to mobilise investment into local energy projects.