Solar pioneer

St Barnabas School will soon be generating around half its electricity needs from roof-mounted solar panels. Parents and children heard at a meeting on Monday 13 January that all the necessary funds had been raised and that the 110 panels would be installed during the February mid-term break. The scheme is being operated by a local organization, Oxford North Community Renewables, (ONCORE) which is also working with Cherwell School to extend its existing solar panel installation. For the two schools together, the installations are being financed by a share offer of £94,515. This has now been fully taken up by 25 investors from Jericho and North Oxford. The investment in St Barnabas will be £41,351. The project also serves as a live demonstration of the potential of renewable energy. The school will have a real-time display that shows how the system works and how much electricity is being generated – a maximum of 27.5 kilowatts from two roofs. In fact, St Barnabas students already have a good appreciation of the value of renewable energy. Some of the school’s young ‘eco-warriors’ and ‘recycling champions’ spoke at the meeting about what they were already doing to conserve energy and natural resources. The project earns its money from the government’s renewable energy feed-in tariff, by selling electricity to the school (at a 13% discount), and by exporting any excess to the electricity grid. This will generate for the investors a projected income of 4.2% – or 7.7% if they qualify for additional tax relief. They also have their capital gradually returned over the 20-year life of the project, after which the panels become the property of the school. This innovative project is likely to be replicated across Oxfordshire schools. Further information from [url=http://www.oncore.org.uk]http://www.oncore.org.uk[/url]