The CBS hopes the partnership with Triodos Bank unlocks further potential for investment from larger funders. Image: Solar for Schools.

Ethical investor Triodos Bank UK has provided a £3 million loan to the Solar for Schools Community Benefit Society (CBS).

The Solar for Schools CBS will use the senior debt, combined with crowdfunding bond finance, to grow its network of solar-powered schools across the UK. It currently owns and operates over 150 rooftop installations but has over 100 schools on its waiting list.

Solar Options for Schools develops and manages the projects for Solar for Schools, and works closely with the CBS to secure funding.

Further, Solar Options for Schools delivers interactive education for primary and secondary students to learn about renewable energy, climate change, green skills and sustainability; these topics are also all linked to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

The partnership with Triodos Bank was marked at a school in East London. Its deputy head teacher, James Easter, said: “With solar panels hidden on the roof, pupils could easily come to school without noticing them. The education work helps to deliver a lasting legacy in the school and community.”

The CBS is owned and governed by the schools themselves, enabling them to save on energy bills and helping local authorities progress towards net zero targets. Any surplus solar energy generated across the community is shared with the schools and they pay only for the electricity they use at a pre-agreed unit price—lower than mains electricity costs—that is fixed for the lifetime of the solar panels.

Robert Schrimpff, co-founder of Solar Options for Schools and voluntary director of the CBS, explained: “There are nearly 25,000 schools in the UK alone, requiring about £2 billion to install solar on all sensible roofs. But individually, these schools are far too small to attract low-cost project finance.

“Creating a funding structure that addresses the needs and limitations of each school, the councils and the Department for Education, while meeting the strict requirements of institutional lenders is therefore key to unlocking solar across the educational estate.”

So far, the CBS has raised most of its funds via ethical bond offers to individuals but hopes the partnership with Triodos Bank unlocks further potential for investment from larger funders.

Triodos Bank says it has lent £85 million to over 30 community energy projects in the 30 years it has been operating in the UK. According to its head of energy and project finance, Amandine Tetot, the latest funding aligns with the bank’s mission to support projects that make a “meaningful difference” to the environment.

Solar-powered schools

Another scheme, funded by Oxford y Council and delivered by Oxford Brookes University and the Low Carbon Hub, offers a fund of £800,000 to help y-maintained schools reduce their energy use.

Action on Carbon and Energy in Schools (ACES) has run since June 2023 and in August saw an interest-free loan of just under £12,000 awarded to a local primary school.

Before then, Solar for Schools partnered with National Grid on a £2.7 million venture to fundraise and enable about £10 million worth of solar projects to be installed on schools. National Grid has pledged to help schools in areas of economic deprivation reach net zero goals.

The educational element of the Solar for Schools scheme will be of particular importance in the energy transition as the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, seeks to reframe the way that solar installations—both rooftop and larger-scale projects—are discussed.

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