A sunny spring boosts performance for Wey Valley Solar Schools

As you would expect after so much sunshine, the solar panels on our 11 rooftops (10 schools and 1 church) have performed well this spring, with 233,769 kWh generated between March and May: that covers 721 electric vehicles driving the average distance in the UK during that time period.

It is a 23% increase compared with the same period last year. One of the nice things about being part of a network of energy co-operatives across the UK is that when one technology is performing badly it usually means another is doing well; after a dull year in 2024 this was our turn to shine, and our sympathies now go to the hydropower projects up in the Scotland!

We recognise that extreme weather of all kinds is a sign of our changing climate and not something to be celebrated, but adopting a diverse renewable energy mixture including solar PV to increase our community's resilience is what we are trying to achieve as an energy cooperative.

We are continuing to work towards our next share offer, putting more solar panels on more schools to maximise that sunshine.