An Introduction to Solar-Powered Schools

Despite the incalculable value that our schools provide to the next generation, there’s no denying that they are heavy consumers of energy.

According to the Clean Energy Council, a single school classroom uses an average of 3,800kWh of electricity every year, which equates to half of an entire household. In the face of rising energy costs and an inherent need to embrace more sustainable energy solutions, here’s why solar is a smart investment for schools.

Solar for Schools

Aside from the sustainability factor, investing in commercial solar solutions for your school is a long-term and cost-effective decision. With the right installation, you’ll immediately reduce your operating costs over the years and decades to come, subsequently freeing up much-needed funds to invest back into your institution and attract more students and teachers to your school.

Much like large manufacturing plants are ideal for solar, so too are educational institutions due to the type of facilities that are generally on-campus. From assembly halls to gymnasiums to large classroom buildings, there is usually plenty of rooftop space where you can take advantage of the bright Australian sun all day long.

Integrating with the classroom

A solar install at your school represents a fantastic learning opportunity. 

Every Smart Commercial Solar system is installed with monitoring. The data is accessed through an easy to use platform (Solar Analytics) which can empower teachers with energy, environmental and financial insights. 

By encouraging students to participate in your proposed solar install, you can teach them about daily energy consumption, energy monitoring, how solar energy is generated, and all the valuable benefits – from financial to environmental – of investing in renewable energy.

Smart can work with your organisation to make sure the right data is provided to integrate with the lesson plan or student project. 

PPA: The best procurement option for schools

Smart Commercial Solar offers different procurement methods for your school’s solar. One of the most popular right now is called a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). A PPA avoids any upfront spending and delivers electricity ~50% cheaper than grid-supplied power.

Essentially, there are four steps to our PPA process:

1. We source investors from the community who are interested in your solar project. We then use those investments to install the system on your school’s rooftops.
2. As the system produces energy, it generates revenue by selling you the energy at a very low rate.
3. As the system earns revenue, investors are paid back with interest. The system pays for itself.
4. At the end of the contract, we give you the system for free.

What usually gets schools to choose a PPA is the lack of upfront cost – most schools simply don’t have the available capital to make an outright purchase for a large commercial solar installation. And because you are simply buying the energy that your solar system generates, on average you are paying approximately 50% less than your typical daytime electricity rate from the grid.

A quick look at one of our school case studies

One of our clients – Green Valley Islamic College – had an existing 100kW system in use for five years but didn’t actually know whether it was doing its job. This is unfortunately something that we hear quite often from schools, and indeed that system was a non-compliant install, the inverters had failed, and there was no monitoring system. Essentially, the system wasn’t working and the school had no idea.

The school sought out Smart Commercial Solar’s help, so we went on-site, conducted an audit, and identified that their existing system needed to be replaced entirely – with all the rail inverters and solar panels being recycled, rather than ending up in the landfill. We then assessed their energy consumption and found that they actually needed a 300kW system to make the transition to solar cost-effective.

During this time, the school was considering multiple projects and was even planning to build another campus, so the availability of capital was highly competitive. That’s why a Power Purchase Agreement was the best choice – it enabled the school to avoid any upfront costs while we removed and recycled their existing system, installed a new system triple the previous size, and wrapped in an LED lighting upgrade. That presented an immediate cash-flow positive result, with the school also not incurring any operational or maintenance costs over the life of the PPA term.

Why Smart Commercial Solar is the ideal partner for your school's solar needs

While we pride ourselves on being an industry-agnostic solar provider, we also understand the key challenges of running a school and trying to balance a tight budget. So in addition to having installed 1,700 large-scale commercial solar systems across every state and territory in Australia, we have also installed systems in 80 Australian schools and two schools in Vanuatu, as part of our One Sun initiative.

From primary schools all the way through to universities, we have experience in delivering the right solar technology to meet your institution’s unique demands. Our specialists work to understand your school’s specific needs, your consumption, your budget, and whether you want an Outright Purchase or PPA procurement, and we then design a rollout to match.