The King’s School, Macclesfield, is an independent school for day pupils in Cheshire, England. The school is located on an extensive purpose-built campus which boasts extensive indoor and outdoor facilities. The school is well known for delivering excellent educational programmes, and Solarsense has donated an additional 12 solar panels to provide the physics department with a hand-on learning tool. Pupils will learn the science behind the energy conversion systems and be fully involved in recording and analysing their energy efficiency data.

The school is environmentally conscious and holds a very good BREEAM rating. During the build and relocation to their new 80-acre campus in 2020, sustainability was at the top of the agenda. Extra attention to detail was placed on the planning of the new buildings, which were designed to include building management systems, additional insulation, LED lighting and solar PV panels. The school has also completed a comprehensive redesign of its waste disposal methods to eliminate any landfill, as well as plant an additional 2000 trees throughout the campus.

The new solar PV system installed on the sports hall roof is the school’s latest initiative aimed at making King’s School a net zero energy user. As well as powering the sports and leisure facilities below, the solar panels will power the aeration systems in the school’s ponds; helping to boost wildlife and further enhance the school’s outdoor learning programmes.

After conducting a thorough energy audit and concluding that solar PV would deliver the highest carbon reductions for the costs involved, King’s School and their partners Control Energy Costs (CEC) approached Solarsense to design, install and maintain a solar PV system for their new Sports Centre.

Following a detailed technical review and site survey, the design engineers at Solarsense specified 415W Q Cells solar PV modules due to their high efficiency and power output. The Sports Centre solar array is comprised of 444 solar panels, which are fixed to the flat roof using a purpose manufactured ballasted base frame. This mounting system ensures the weight of the solar array is kept to a minimum and allows the design engineers to optimise the pitch of the solar modules to balance performance against wind loading.

The new 184.26kWp solar PV system is estimated to generate 163,566kWh of clean energy each year; reducing the school’s carbon footprint by 34,672kg per annum. As well as significantly improving the sustainability credentials of the school, the large-scale on roof solar panel system installed for King’s is estimated to generate a net profit of more than £2.1million for the school over the next 25-years. Positive early data indicates the solar panels are generating in line with the financial projections and likely to pay for themselves within four years, freeing up capital that can be reinvested in both academic and extra curricular facilities.

“Together with CEC we opted for Solarsense because they are a company aligned with our own values for the environment, have a very transparent and practical way of presenting their proposal (we could see the total costs, the impact we could expect, the payback period and more) and were price competitive. You should not underestimate the planning required to achieve a successful outcome. This included a detailed survey of roof areas and going through formal planning processes and design work within the building. This was all undertaken by Solarsense who provided an excellent service. They were also able to adapt the timetable of work due to various onsite construction issues.”

Jonathan Spencer Pickup, Bursar and Director of Finance – King’s School