West Park Solar School

In 2015 we made a successful application to the Marks & Spencer Community Energy Fund on behalf of Hartlepool and West Park School. The competition was based around online votes with a leaderboard and 6 weeks of public voting. Our entry was placed into the national leaderboard, against larger cities around the U.K. Thankfully the Hartlepool community was well behind us and lots of people, families and businesses across the town placed votes. 

We confirmed our 1st place with 1523 votes on 30th September 2015. With careful planning we decided upon a rooftop solar installation, the school had several flat roofs which could easily accommodate solar panels. In the first week of the school's Christmas holidays our team of installers completed the project.

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The school receives all of the electricity generated for free and with a 25 year guarantee they will benefit from this installation until at least 2040. During the first year of operation the panels generated almost 20,000kWh of electricity, saving around £3000 on the schools electricity bill!

We continue to monitor the installation regularly and are working with the school's STEM co-coordinator to ensure it is featured in the learning curriculum.

We would like to thank the following for their support:

M&S, Yes Renewable Energy, Northern Powergrid, Hartlepool Borough Council, Radio Hartlepool, The Golden Lion, Hartlepool Mail, Tilly Bailey & Irvine. Thank you to the Hartlepool community who were also behind us, with lots of people, families and businesses across the town placing votes.