All schools to get solar panels to reduce energy costs
The Department of Education said a school with a 6kW Solar PV installation could expect to save in the region of €1,200-€1,600 per year on their bill when the credit they’ve earned for selling electricity to the grid is taken into account.
All 4,000 schools across the country are to have solar panels installed to reduce energy costs and their carbon footprint, Education Minister Norma Foley has announced.
Schools in some counties have been invited to participate in the first phase of the Solar for Schools Scheme, to be funded by the Government’s Climate Action Fund.
The first phase will open for applications on November 30 while it is intended that all eligible schools across the country will have the opportunity to apply to the scheme by the end of 2024.
The scheme aims to assist schools in reducing their energy costs and their carbon footprint as part of the response to meeting the 2030 and 2050 Climate Action Plan targets for the school sector.
Participating schools will be able to generate income from the scheme by selling off excess electricity to power homes and businesses, as the solar panels will be connected to the electricity grid.
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The department said a school with a 6kW Solar PV installation could expect to save in the region of €1,200-€1,600 per year on their bill when the credit they’ve earned for selling electricity to the grid is taken into account.
Monitoring software will also be provided to each school, to allow review and discussion of the energy generated each day for staff and students. The scheme will be rolled out on a phased basis, commencing with a call for applications to over 1,600 schools from 11 designated areas across the country.
The department said the phasing of the programme was designed to ensure a managed and steady flow of work for solar PV contractors while the data gathered during the first phase will also allow for any improvements in the design of the scheme ahead of the next phases.
“Counties in the first phase were selected to obtain a good geographical spread including a balance of rural, urban, island, and Gaeltacht schools in all regions of the country, as well as targeting counties that have not benefitted from other recent Department of Education climate-related initiatives,” a spokesperson said.
Schools in the following areas are invited to participate in the first phase Clare, Donegal, Dublin City Council area, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Offaly, Waterford, and Wicklow. The Department of Education said the exact budget for the scheme is not being released as it is commercially sensitive.
“This is because of the need to ensure that contractors deliver competitive quotes rather than basing them on the average funding available per school. The Department of Education will be monitoring the spending under the scheme to ensure that it delivers value for money,” a spokesperson said.
The scheme was initially signalled ahead of Budget 2023 when the Government announced €50m to pay for solar panels for the country’s 4,000 schools as part of the summer works programme. There has been criticism since about the slow pace of the roll-out to date.
