British Gas to donate £15 million worth of solar panels to British Schools

Last week British Gas announced an audacious scheme that will help the nation’s schools meet their carbon reduction targets through the use of solar panels.  For the first stage of the scheme British Gas will invest nothing less than £15 million in solar panels worth between £20,000 and £40,000 per school – in up to 750 schools.  This will allow each school to generate its own free, renewable energy.

The energy produced will help each school save as much as 20% on their annual electricity bills.  During a 25 year period it is estimated that the energy generated by these solar panels will create around £1.3m per year. The money will then be returned through the Government’s Clean Energy Cashback scheme.  This will be reinvested by the British Gas Energy For Tomorrow Trust, a ‘not for profit’ trust fund established by British Gas to invest in low carbon projects in the UK, which could allow more schools to benefit every year over the same period.

British Gas plans to install free solar panels in total of 1,100 schools over the next five years.  As mentioned these panels will help selected schools reduce emissions by up to 1,400 tonnes per year.  Equivalent to taking almost 400 mid-size 30mpg cars with average CO2 emissions of 3.55 tones per year off the roads.

But British Gas efforts towards helping Britain achieve its carbon commitment reductions target don’t stop there.  Together with the solar panels each school will also receive a smart meter, offering real time information for students allowing them to see the difference their solar panels are making.  To extend even further the consciousness towards a low carbon economy there will be specially created Generation Green lessons.

These lessons will help teachers engage their students in learning more about renewable energy generation and its importance to the future of a secure British energy market.  With the use of a specially designed website associated with the data provided by the smart meters, schools will be able to track their performance against others and share tips and advice.

Phil Bentley, Managing Director, British Gas, said:

“This is the biggest investment of its kind in solar technology for our nation’s schools, which will help them, cut both their carbon emissions and their electricity bills – as well as learn about renewable energy in a hands-on way.

“The electricity generated by these schools will help pay for the scheme to be extended to even more schools throughout the country, which is great news for school leaders, parents and pupils who are all looking for ways to save money during these tough economic times.”

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said:

“This is a very generous offer and I’m sure many schools will feel they can benefit from solar panels.  Cutting down on energy costs and reducing carbon emissions are absolutely the right thing to do. It’s a valuable lesson for pupils that we can all help to use energy sparingly, and where possible, generate it from sustainable or renewable resources.”

All schools in the UK can register for an application form at http://www.generationgreen.co.uk/ there you will also find more information about Generation Green itself and you can help your local school by donating leaves collected by switching to paperless British Gas billing or completing an energy saver’s report online.

We want to hear from you now.  What do you think of British Gas initiative? Should other energy companies follow suit to help Britain achieve its Climate Change Bill Agreements?

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1. [...] worth of solar panels to British Schools In Uncategorized on July 7, 2010 at 8:09 am via catalyst-commercial.co.uk ▶ No Responses /* 0) { jQuery('#comments').show('', change_location()); [...]

   Pingback by British Gas to donate £15 million worth of solar panels to British Schools « UK Energy Broker — July 7, 2010 @ 8:14 am

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   Pingback by British Gas to donate £15 million worth of solar panels to British Schools « UK Business Gas Prices — July 7, 2010 @ 8:22 am

3. British Schools get 15 million worth of solar panels…

   This is all well and good, but i thought energy companies had an obligation to deliver this type of product anyway back into the community. And if you consider the ludicrus profits that BG report each year, this is hardly a drop in the ocean….

   Trackback by socialwebcms.com — July 9, 2010 @ 8:29 am

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