Carbon-balancing donations from onboard.earth members in 2018 and 2019 went to Solar for Schools, a project that installs solar panels on school roofs across the UK, allowing them to produce low-cost clean electricity, while also educating children about the importance of a low carbon future.
For schools the project presents a fully funded solar solution for a simple, risk-free way to benefit from solar panels. The project takes schools from initial idea through to installation and long-term management. In exchange, they offer a reduced price for the solar electricity so the school can start using clean, local renewable energy. They plan, raise funds, coordinate and oversee installation and manage the solar panel system, and provide the teachers and students with energy education resources.
UPDATE from August 2020: Solar for Schools have reported on how they are putting balancing donations to good use, so far in August 2020 they have installed solar panels on seven new schools, bringing their portfolio to a total of 59 schools and adding 3.8MW of on-site renewable capacity to their portfolio. In the classroom they ran energy literacy workshops in 14 schools across the country before visits had to be suspended due to COVID-19 closures. Find out what pupils learn HERE.
In 2020 Solar for Schools also launched a new national campaign to encourage more young people to push the clean energy revolution forward, by teaming up with us to take their own schools solar in 2020. To make action even more attractive, the Community Benefit Society is offering additional donation-based rewards for each student driven project that is successful in getting the full way to installing solar panels at their school.
To join the campaign and team up with fellow activists at Solar for Schools, students can email shannon@solarforschools.co.uk with their interest and the name of the school that they would like to take solar.
Find out more about the existing school projects, the solar energy generated and the impact of the education programme: www.solarforschools.co.uk