An ambitious project to fill a school's rooftop with solar panels is now generating a fifth of its energy needs.
The flat surface of Hammersmith Academy's roof in Cathnor Road, Shepherds Bush, is covered in 422 panels, reducing the carbon footprint and improving the building's overall energy efficiency rating.
The co-ed secondary school calculates that the investment will pay for itself within four years, and trim electricity bills for a quarter of a century.
Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Ecology, hailed it as a powerful example of local organisations taking climate action together. "Hammersmith Academy is showing just how effective solar panels can be in helping to cut energy costs and reduce our carbon footprint at the same time."
Student-led and sustainable
The academy's student-led sustainability group has been one of the driving forces behind the scheme, helping start discussions two years ago in an effort to slim down the school's impact on the planet's resources.
It took a team of 10 people from the family-run firm Kembla Ltd a month to fit the panels in the summer. The installation is already accounting for 20 per cent of the college's energy needs, saving 32 tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent of planting 1,511 trees.
Hammersmith Academy headteacher Gary Kynaston said support from governors, staff and students had been unanimous. "This is a big leap forward. Not only is it sustainable from a resource and carbon footprint perspective, but also economically," he said. "Schools have to balance their accounts, and this will help futureproof against any shocks in the energy market."
With the Global Action Plan environmental charity's 2021 Sustainable School of the Year trophy already on the head's mantelpiece, the solar panel installation represents another step towards achieving net zero.
The school also won the Mayor of London's Climate Kick-Start Prize in 2021.
