Portslade Academy – no cost solar PV installation by Brighton Energy Co-op – annual electricity savings (£):
Free Solar for Schools and Colleges
Our community-funded model provides free solar to schools, academies, colleges and universities, saving carbon and significant money on electricity bills. Our pilot project with Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) in 2016, saves 155 tonnes of CO2 a year (the equivalent of 350 trees) and saves PACA around £5000 each year.
We’re a Brighton & Hove City Council approved contractor who have installed free solar at the schools and colleges below – click on their blogs to read their community energy story. BEC has funded free solar systems for 13 Brighton & Hove primary & secondary schools, 2 West Sussex primary schools, 5 Sussex college campuses and 4 University of Brighton buildings.
GBMC Central Brighton campus gets 120kW BEC solar system
Pelham Street GBMC's Central Brighton campus to save £7000 a year! Greater Brighton Met College's Central Brighton Campus is set to get a free solar system – which will reduce the college's carbon emissions – as well as their fuel bill, saving an estimated £7,500 per...
BEC Helps Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) Go Green
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy collaborates with Brighton Energy Coop to house 100kWp of community-owned solar PV. 32 local people invested in the PV system at PACA, providing the school with cheap electricity and saving thousands on their electricity bills each year. These systems generate a substantial proportion of the energy used to operate the school; the PV system was developed by our in-house team and was built by GenerationFIT.
Brighton Energy Coop helps power the University of Brighton
The University of Brighton collaborates with BEC to lease its airspaces for solar installations. BEC paid for the three installations in return the university pays BEC for the electricity generated by the panels. During the 20 years of the lease, the panels are expected to save the university over £185,000 and over 1,000 tonnes of carbon. After the lease expires, the university will take ownership of the panels at no cost and will benefit from the free electricity generated.
Hillbrow Sports Centre, part of the University of Brighton – zero cost solar PV installation by Brighton Energy Co-op – annual electricity savings (£):
How BEC Solar Schools works
Since 2010 BEC has raised over £3m from the local community, and built more than 60 large solar installations. Here’s how it works:
Step 1 - Community Funding
We crowd-funded the costs of the school solar PV systems. Our 600+ investor-members receive a return on their investments – as well as funding positive community projects.
Step 2 - Installation
Our contractors build, commission and test the solar installations, get everything registered and perform any ongoing maintenance.
Step 3 - Benefits
Our host sites receive ongoing cheap electricity, often saving several thousand pounds a year on their bills – and everyone benefits from reduced CO2 in the atmosphere!
