We have completed a solar installation at Keelman’s Way School in Hebburn to help reduce its carbon footprint and save on energy costs.
| Project Details | |
| System Size 95.12 kWp |
No. of Panels 232 |
| Annual Generation 89,337 kWh’s |
Co2 Emissions Avoided 18,844 kg/year |
Keelman’s Way School based in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, is a nurturing, educational and therapeutic community for pupils aged 2 to 19 and their families. They provide relevant and stimulating experiences to support pupil’s progress and personal development. The majority of pupils have severe learning difficulties; many have complex or profound needs.
Approximately 12 months ago the school wanted to see how much carbon they were producing and had an independent audit carried out.
Because they have a wide range of facilities including a cookery room, library areas, sensory room, swimming pool, they knew they needed to do something to help offset their carbon emissions and to save money on energy bills. This was reflected in the audit.
They contacted their local authority, South Tyneside Council to see how they could support with offsetting their carbon footprint, and they suggested installing solar panels, and were able to get partial funding support from NEY NET Zero Hub. The school funded the rest.
South Tyneside Council helped with the whole process and contacted AR Power to provide designs and a quote for the installation of the solar PV system.
Once the designs were signed off and contract to install commercial solar panels at Keelman’s Way School was agreed, our team started to work with South Tyneside Council and the school to complete all applications and paperwork, and to plan in the solar installation.
This is a 95.12kWp installation consisting of 232 panels which will generate 89,337 kWh per year and help the school offset 18,844kg of CO2e emissions on an annual basis. The payback period for the system is 3 years.
The school already has ‘eco schools’ status, and teach the pupils about ecological responsibility, empowering them to make decisions at home to help the environment. We installed a display in the pupil’s entrance so they can see how much energy the panels are producing and how much carbon they have offset.
Laura McGregor, Assistant Headteacher at Keelman’s Way School said “The installation of the panels went really smoothly. A lot of the work took place out of hours and during the school holidays. The workforce were really polite, really respectful, and basically kept themselves to themselves which was excellent. In terms of deliveries, they were very aware of the school day, and didn’t really impact at all. The pupils and staff are really excited to see the difference the solar panels will make.”
Peter Dodds, Mechanical Engineer at South Tyneside Council said “We have worked with AR Power on a number of solar projects for various schools and public buildings across our metropolitan borough. They always provide an exceptional service to both our teams internally and to the clients we represent.
“We always have the peace of mind that they will carry out the end-to-end work to a high level, and require very little involvement from us as a council, allowing us to get on with our day-to-day responsibilities. We look forward to working with them again in the future.”
If you would like to discuss installing solar at your school, college, or university, and work with a leading installer of solar panels for commercial buildings, please get in touch with us today.
