The Project

We have installed a 90kW solar photovoltaic array on several of the roofs of the new primary school in Leominster, Herefordshire.

We expect this to produce around 76,600kWh a year, which will save approximately 33 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, compared to grid electricity.  The school has so far been using almost all of the solar electricity produced, which we sell to them at roughly half the price they pay for grid electricity. So we estimate this will save them around £5,000 a year on their energy bills.

As far as we aware, this is the first co-operatively owned solar array going on a new build in the UK.  The array was turned on when the school opened at the start of November 2014 and apart from a faulty inverter, which had to be replaced, has been working well ever since.