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.
As a Brighton & Hove City Council approved contractor we 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 12 Brighton & Hove primary & secondary schools, 2 West Sussex primary schools, 5 Sussex college campuses and 4 University of Brighton buildings.
East Sussex College gets BEC Solar on Ore Valley Campus
Brighton Energy Co-op members funded and built a 250kW system of 909 x 275W panels for East Sussex College’s Ore Valley campus in March 2019. It generated 234 MWh in 2021 - the equivalent to boiling a kettle a million times! The financial savings for the college are...
Rudyard Kipling Primary & Nursery School Gets Cheap Solar Electricity
Saving Local Schools Money Through Solar As part of our 2019 Solar For Schools project 13 local Sussex schools received free community-funded solar PV energy systems. Rudyard Kipling Primary School partnered with Brighton Energy Co-op (BEC) to put a 60kW...
Hertford Juniors takes Action on Energy Use
BEC Pioneers School-first Approach to Energy Learning Like many organisations, Hertford Junior School is feeling the impacts of increasing energy prices. That's why the school has recently signed up to Brighton Energy Co-op's Solar Education Programme (SEP), an...
Coldean Primary Gets Free 60kW Solar System
Coldean Primary School Goes Solar with Brighton Energy Co-op Coldean Primary School in Brighton & Hove is home to 370 four to eleven year olds, and another pioneer of Brighton and Hove City Council’s solar schools program. Our 60kWp solar system, built in July...
Woodingdean Primary School Gets Free Solar
First Brighton & Hove Authority School To Get BEC Solar High up on the Sussex Downs, Woodingdean Primary School was the first of our partnerships with Brighton and Hove City Council in April 2019. Woodingdean is a 60kWp system, and as well as providing...
Balfour Infant & Junior Schools Get Free Solar
Balfour Infants & Junior School received a 120kW Solar System in May 2020 The 10th local Brighton & Hove school to partner with us to put a free Solar PV energy system on their roof was Balfour Infants & junior School. This local 5 Ways school now has a...
Blatchington Mill Secondary School Goes Solar
BEC's Free Solar For Schools Programme Keeps Growing Across Brighton & Hove Tucked in a high corner of Hove, Blatchington Mill School’s south-facing roofs are a great home for BEC’s 200kWp solar system. Our locally-owned green energy system builds on the...
Hove Park School Gets Free BEC Solar System
Hove Park School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form centre spread over two sites in Hove. With several great south-facing roofs, we installed two solar systems here in early 2020, which now green the schools energy supply and provide an excellent educational...
Carden Primary School joins the BEC EV charge point network
Brighton Energy Co-op has installed another EV charge point, this time at Carden Primary School. Any charging during daylight hours comes straight from the BEC owned solar PV on site. This helps the school ensure maximum usage of their on-site solar, generating...
Westdene Primary School Joins BEC’s Solar Schools
Westdene Primary School Goes Solar! Westdene Primary & Nursery School is 11th Brighton & Hove school to receive a free solar electricity system from Brighton Energy Co-op Brighton Energy Co-op (BEC) switched on Westdene Primary School & Nursery’s free...
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!
