Community-Owned Solar for Brighton and Hove Schools

Brighton Energy Coop is a Brighton and Hove City Council – approved contractor to roll out free solar on our city’s schools.

Schools can now host solar panels at no cost, and save significant amounts on their electriciy bills each year. A similar arrangement between BEC and Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA), saved the Academy £5800 in 2017.

The rollout of solar PV on Brighton and Hove schools is a great community effort. Have a look at the full list of schools involved here, see below for how it works – and how you can help.

How it Works
Portslade Academy – no cost solar PV installation by Brighton Energy Coop – annual electricity savings (£):

Help Put Green Energy at the Heart of our Community

Getting involved in our exciting schools initiative is easy. For more information, drop us a line using the form below or have a look at the click here to see how it works.

Let’s get going with solar on our schools and help our schools use their money for what’s really important.

Got a Question? We’d love to hear from you!

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Let Your School Know the Good News!

Let you school know about this exciting inititaive by getting active on social media. You can find us on Twitter here (this is great to retweet) and Facebook here (check out the funky video of the project here).

Refine Metals near Horshame – no cost solar PV installation by Brighton Energy Coop – annual electricity savings (£):

Hillborw Sports Centre, part of the University of Brighton – no cost solar PV installation by Brighton Energy Coop – annual electricity savings (£):

How it Works

In the past seven years BEC has raised more than £1,800,000 from the local community, and built 15 large solar installations. Here’s how it works for the schools project:

Step 1 - The Mini-Competition

There are three BHCC-approved organisations that schools can choose to carry out the free PV work. Initially, schools contact these organisations, and – at no charge – these organisations design a potential solar system and estimate cost savings. The school then decides which of the three it would like to carry out the work.

Step 2 - Community Funding

If the school chooses Brighton Energy Coop, we then crowd fund the cost of the PV system. To date, most of the £1.8 million invested in Brighton Energy Coop has come from the local community, although we also have a £1m funding facility for this project.

Step 3 - Installation

Our contractors build, commission and test the solar installation, get everything registered and put in place an ongoing maintenance agreement.

Step 4 - Benefits

The School receives cheap electricity, our members get a return on their investment and everyone benefits from reduced Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere!