Having helped Harbury Primary School to reduce its costs by installing LEDs throughout, HEI wanted to go further and significantly cut carbon emissions and energy costs by installing solar panels on the roof. The original plan agreed with Ineco Energy, a school solar specialist company, was for a 40kWp array. This had to be adjusted to 12kWp as the flat roof was not sufficiently structurally sound to carry the weight. Small grants were obtained from the Heart of England Community Foundation and the Carbon Trust but the main source of finance was an interest-free loan from Salix Finance Ltd, a government backed company serving local authorities and schools.
The installation was completed in March 2019 just in time to qualify for the last of the government’s Feed-in-Tariff rates.