A DISTRICT junior school will become one of the greenest schools in the country when free solar panels are installed – thanks to The Co-operative.
South Crosland CE (A) Junior School is in the latest round of The Co-operative Group’s £1m national Green Energy for Schools scheme, which will provide free solar panels to 100 schools.
The panels, worth more than £20,000 to each school, are half funded through The Co-operative’s scheme with match funding from the Government’s Low Carbon Building Programme (LCBP).
Solarcentury, the leading solar energy company, will put up the panels.
The rooftop solar panels will generate renewable electricity which will reduce the school’s reliance on fossil fuels while highlighting the issue of climate change.
A monitor screen in the school building will display how much energy the panels are generating and how much carbon dioxide they have saved to date. Schools will also be able to access their energy data on the Internet, along with educational materials which teachers can download for use in the classroom.
Teresa Lockwood, funeral arranger and community relations officer for The Co-operative Funeralcare branch in Church Street, in Slaithwaite, said: “As a community retailer with strong green credentials, it is most appropriate that we are helping our local school reduce its carbon footprint in this way.
“As well as reducing the school’s carbon dioxide emissions and cutting its electricity bill by generating renewable energy, the rooftop solar panels will serve as a prominent reminder to the whole community of the urgent need to tackle climate change.”
South Crosland School’s headteacher Carolyn Booth said: “To be one of the 100 schools in the country chosen to receive free solar panels through The Co-operative’s Green Energy for Schools scheme is fantastic.
“Schools have a vital role to play in educating the next generation about climate change and using this renewable energy technology to power our own premises will help us to really bring that message home to pupils, parents and staff.”
The Co-operative group purchases virtually all of its electricity from renewable sources and its CIS tower in Manchester boasts the largest vertical array of solar panels in Europe.
