A primary school in Burley is looking to one of the first in the city where two thirds of its electricity is generated by solar panels.
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School is about to install 150 solar panels on its new roof – and help save more than £100,000 in electricity bills over the next 25 years.
The school’s business manager, David Hubbard, said he hoped work would be completed by the end of the school year. He told WLD:
“The work will not only be an environmental boost by stopping tonnes of CO2 emissions, but it will also provide an educational boost too. As the panels go on pupils will be asking questions about them and we can explain why it’s important to reduce our carbon footprint.
“I hope it will inspire the children.”
Mr Hubbard said the idea for the project came at an event for educators held at Leeds University just before the pandemic struck in early 2020. The climate event was held against a backdrop of Greta Thunberg-inspired school strikes to highlight the problems of global warming.
Sacred Heart partnered with Solar For Schools, a not-for-profit organisation which delivers hands-on education packages on energy and sustainability using solar panels on the roof of schools.
Work to replace the deteriorating 1960s flat roof at Sacred Heart was completed in February.