With the International Energy Agency this week announcing that solar energy could be the world’s top source of electricity by 2050, Manchester looks to be on the front foot in starting a solar revolution.

Across the city, there are already more than 2,600 renewable energy installations registered for the government’s Feed-in Tariff, the majority of which are generating electricity from solar energy. That’s 7.4 Megawatts of installed capacity displacing fossil fuel generation with clean, green electricity.

With the price of solar panels continuing to fall, the economics of solar energy are beginning to stack-up for households and business, and also for schools.

With the price of solar panels continuing to fall, the economics of solar energy are beginning to stack-up for households and business, and also for schools.

This changing affordability hasn’t been lost on Friends of the Earth, who’ve recently launched their ‘Run on Sun’ campaign to increase awareness amongst schools about the opportunities of benefitting from solar energy. The campaign estimates that schools can save up to £8,000 on their electricity bill every year by installing solar panels on their buildings, but that they’re often unaware of the opportunity or unsure of what to do next.

Friends of the Earth hope that their campaign will give schools the confidence and the support they need to start generating their own green electricity for free.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that schools are a great place to install solar. Not only do they have the buildings which are ready-made for installing solar panels, but they’re also a great hub for sharing the benefits of renewable energy amongst pupils, parents and the wider community.  

In Manchester, the city Council has entered into the spirit of the Run on Sun campaign with its own Manchester Solar Schools Project. The project, which gets started in the next few months, will see the Council support schools in the City to generate their own renewable energy by the springtime.

Image: Nationwide Solar fit a PV array on Hilti's HQ building in Manchester