Solar Panels for Schools, Academies and Colleges

Can our school have solar panels?

Often, yes. School buildings tend to have large roofs and use power for lighting, IT, kitchens and ventilation while the sun is up. The questions that decide it are the roof's condition and structure, the electricity supply, who has to agree, and how it will be paid for.

One thing to plan for: the school holidays. Panels keep generating in July and August, when a closed school uses little. That spare output is exported unless the site is used in the holidays, which is why the installer sizes the system from the school's own half-hourly data rather than the size of the roof.

Who decides: the school, the trust or the local authority

• Academies and free schools. Usually the academy trust, which runs the estate.
• Maintained schools. Usually the governing body and the local authority, depending on who owns and maintains the building.
• PPAs and land leases on the state school estate in England. The DfE says schools outside its pilot submit proposals to the School Land Transaction Team, that applications won't be approved where roof condition is poor, and that all are assessed for value for money (DfE).
• Independent schools. The governors or trustees, through the school's own processes.

Funding: Great British Energy, the DfE pilot and PPAs

• Great British Energy. On 5 March 2026 Great British Energy said 100 schools and colleges had its solar panels, with about 250 due. The sites were targeted mainly at areas of deprivation in the North East, West Midlands and North West, with at least 10 in each English region (GBE). Its announcement doesn't describe a way for schools to apply.
• The DfE's PPA pilot. Up to 150 schools and colleges in Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the South East, England only. Eligible schools don't apply: the DfE contacts them. Procurement starts in autumn 2026, and the DfE hopes all schools and colleges can buy renewable energy this way in the 2027 to 2028 financial year (DfE).
• A PPA outside the pilot. From 15 July 2026, any PPA for the school estate must use the DfE PPA and land lease template. The DfE says there will be a testing pause of a few months when no new cases are approved (DfE). See how a solar PPA works.
• Paying from the school's own budget. The cost works the same way as for any building: see what commercial solar panels cost and solar grants.

Dates and schemes change; we checked each of these on 2 November 2026.

Buying through the DfE route

The DfE's Get help buying for schools service lists a solar photovoltaic framework provided by Laser Energy, running to 31 August 2029. It covers solar panels, rooftop systems, installation and funding, including PPAs, and schools can buy equipment only, installation only or the whole package (DfE). A state school should check its own procurement rules before buying any other way. A free survey with us is a way to find out what the roof and supply can take before you decide how to buy.

What a survey checks on a school site

• Roof condition and structure. MCS's installation standard requires the roof structure to be checked by a competent person, with a structural engineer where it is unusual or in doubt (MIS 3002). Many school roofs are flat, and ballasted systems need an engineer's sign-off.
• Asbestos. HSE says to assume a building built or refurbished before 2000 contains asbestos (HSE). Have the school's asbestos register ready. See solar on an asbestos roof.
• Safe access around pupils. Fragile rooflights are common on school buildings (HSE). The installer plans scaffolding, compounds and deliveries, and much of the work can be timed for the holidays.
• Term-time use. Half-hourly data shows the school day, weekends and holidays, which sets the right size.
• The supply. The incoming supply and main switchboard, and whether a G99 application is needed.

Teaching with your solar data

Most systems come with monitoring that shows generation through the day. Ask the installer whether the school can have a display or a login for classes to use: live generation, the weather and the school's own use make a ready-made maths and science resource. Every installer we match a school with is MCS certified.