Solar revolution for Milan Schools : Thanks to Solarcentury

14th November 2008 – Solarcentury, the UK’s leading solar energy company specialising in building integrated solar electric and thermal technology and the founder of Solar4Schools, has been chosen by the province of Milan to provide solar photovoltaics to 24 secondary schools in Milan province. The solar schools will both reduce the local government’s reliance on fossil fuels and benefit from the financial gains of local electricity generation with the Italian ‘Feed-in-tariff’ system, which, like many other European countries, pays solar electricity producers 0,46 Euros per unit of electricity exported to the grid.

Each school’s 20kW photovoltaic system is capable of generating 22,600 kWh, units, of electricity each year and save over 13 tonnes of CO2 emissions. In total, the province’s schools will generate 542.400 kWh; sufficient to power 250 homes. Every single school will generate a revenue of 15.000 Euros for use within the education sector.

Mario Micali, Country Manager, Solarcentury Italy says: “This project joins two very important areas for solar, education and building integration; not only is it vital for children to learn about the role of intelligent generation technologies such as solar, but also for us to take a sustainable approach and endeavor to use buildings to generate energy at the point of use.” He adds: “Solar energy is a proven, reliable and long lasting technology that we are confident Milan will be proud of for years to come. We encourage others to look at solar as a serious investment for the future.”

Following successful solar innovation and installation across over 600 projects in the UK, Solarcentury established its schools programme, Solar4Schools, in 2007 and has since installed over 100 solar photovoltaic systems on UK schools; it was this experience that particularly impressed the Milan district in the competitive tender. “We not only want to see solar on every building, but for people to understand how easy it is to make the transition to solar power. Our expertise and commitment to spreading the solar culture has now fully arrived in Italy.” Micali concluded.