Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential carbon savings from equipping all suitable school buildings with solar panels; and what steps they are taking to accelerate the rollout of solar energy across schools in line with net zero commitments.

The education estate has around 55 million square meters of roof area. The department is already working with Great British Energy to harness the opportunity for solar generation by installing rooftop solar panels in this financial year on around 200 schools in an £80 million partnership programme. The first 11 schools are already benefitting from having had panels installed, as we announced on 3 June here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-schools-install-great-british-energy-solar-panels.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme also supports schools and other public sector bodies with funding to switch to cleaner heating and cut building emissions. Additionally, capital funding allocated by the department to the school sector each year can be used for projects that improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of school buildings, as well as improving the condition of the estate to keep schools safe and operational.

This is just one element of the department’s strategy to ensure that the school estate is sustainable. We are providing support for all schools and colleges to get started on their journey towards net zero via our new online sustainability support for education platform and our climate ambassador programme, Sustainability Support for Education, which can be accessed here: https://www.sustainabilitysupportforeducation.org.uk/.