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The King's School is expanding its solar power generation capacity by nearly 200 per cent, becoming a national flagship for the latest technology.
Last year, the innovative Macclesfield school installed 800 square metres of solar units on its new sports centre. Now, King's is covering its main building, music block and infant and junior department at its new 80-acre campus on Alderley Road with another 1,500 square metres.
The savings are estimated to be some £150K p.a. with the school set to generate 500 megawatt hours of power, around half of its needs, and send 15 megawatt hours back to the National Grid as green energy for use by its neighbours. It will reduce the carbon footprint of the school by around 30 per cent. It all means King's will have recouped its capital spend in around five years and can then look forward to huge continuing savings.
The success of the scheme has seen King's become a national model for renewable energy with Bristol based installation company Solarsense using King's as a showcase for state and independent schools across the U.K. It is the latest initiative aimed at making King's a net zero energy user, with the school already completing a comprehensive redesign of its waste disposal methods to eliminate any landfill obligations.
The solar power arrays will also power the aeration systems to boost wildlife in the school's range of on-site ponds therefore enhancing King's outdoor learning programmes.
King's Physics GCSE students have already been using the new solar system in project work, learning the science behind the energy conversion systems and are fully involved in recording and analysing data collection.
Jonathan Spencer Pickup, King's Director of Finance, who led the project before retiring in September, said: "The close monitoring, analysis and assessment of our power use is leading to further savings as we become more efficient."
Energy costs have been high because King's also operates as a community facility, with its Sports Centre complex busy from 7am to 10pm, particularly the 25 metre, six lane swimming pool and the multi use sports hall.
Jonathan added: "King's wants to set an example to its present and future students who will inherit the planet we leave behind. Conservation is a major issue for all our young people and we are determined to show that their community is doing its level best to meet their concerns.
"It will also enable us to continue to operate the Sports Centre as a community based facility without the worry of potentially escalating costs."
