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Schools could reap benefits of around £68,000 over 25 years from a scheme which pays them to have solar panels installed on their roofs, it was suggested.

 

Schools stand to save up to £840 on electricity bills and generate an income of more than £3,000 a year from the Government's feed-in tariff scheme, without having to pay upfront costs of installation.

 

The initiative, run by solar power company Solarcentury and financed by GE relies on the new feed-in tariffs which pay householders, organisations and schools for green electricity they generate from small scale renewables and feed back to the grid. Schools will pay for the solar panels over 15 years from the feed-in tariff funding.

 

After that they own the equipment and receive the full cash payment from generating green electricity which is guaranteed for 25 years.

 

Unlike other schemes in which the company that pays for installation owns the solar panels and can claim the feed-in tariffs, the school will reap the full benefits once the loan has been paid off, Soloarcentury said.

 

The company said GE would pay the cost of the solar technology, costing from around £16,000 with a small deposit of £1,000 paid by either the school or local authority.

 

For more information, visit www.solarcentury.co.uk