News Items

The government has announced a major boost for the community energy sector through GB Energy’s new Local Power Plan. The Plan commits up to £1 billion of investment through grants, loans and advice to accelerate the growth of clean power that benefits communities. Schools’ Energy Co-op welcomes the move – we have more than 10…

For the first time, we have mapped the locations and capacities (in kilowatts) of our solar PV installations on member schools and buildings – that’s over 100 installations. You can find all the information on our Projects Page. The sites are divided by county, or by borough in the case of London where we have…

This post was originally published on the Energy4All website. At present only around 20% of UK schools have solar panels, even though the renewable technology appears to be an easy win for its ability to save schools money long-term whilst cutting their environmental impact. The British public are overwhelmingly in support of solar panels on…

The Schools Energy Co-op held it’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 25th September 2025. An annual meeting is a requirement for every registered Co-operative Society, it gives our members a chance to have their say and vote on the running of the co-op. We held the meeting online over Zoom, and around 40 people attended…

The Schools’ Energy Co-op recently held it’s Annual General Meeting, where members voted to approve a dividend payment of £60,000 to our member schools. The dividend is allocated between schools broadly in proportion to how much the solar panels hosted on their site contribute to the co-op. We have 92 member schools, and a handful…

This post was originally published on the Energy4All website. Schools across the UK saved an estimated £928,000 last year on their energy bills, thanks to six co-ops in the Energy4All family: The Schools’ Energy Co-op, Wey Valley Solar Schools Co-op, North Lincolnshire Community Energy, Edinburgh Community Solar Co-op, Energise South and REPOWER Balcombe. At a…

The Schools’ Energy Co-operative have installed 48 solar panels on Ise Lodge Community Centre in Kettering. It is our first installation in Northamptonshire. The installation is expected to save the community centre £2000 in it’s first year. Members of the community gather to launch the new solar PV panels This project was initially the idea…

10 years ago last month, our first solar site Glenleigh Park Primary School started generating carbon-free solar electricity. Now, we have installed solar PV system on our 100th building: Bridport Leisure Centre. In 10 years, we have installed solar PV systems on more than 100 buildings, saving nearly 7,000 tones carbon dioxide (compared to generation…

Mike Smyth, chair of The Schools’ Energy Co-operative, has been awarded an MBE in King Charles III’s first New Year’s honours list for services to the environment. Mike has been recognised for his dedication and commitment in his roles in the energy and environmental sector, as chair of Schools’ Energy, Wey Valley Solar and Energy4All…

Salisbury Cathedral takes a step forward in bid to become carbon neutral by 2030 with the installation of 93 solar panels Salisbury Cathedral has taken a step forward in their bid to become carbon neutral by 2030 in line with targets agreed earlier this year by the Church of England by installing solar panels on…