Solar panels for schools: guides & comparisons
In-depth, no-nonsense guides on cost, grants and funding, payback, and the decisions that matter for solar panels for schools. Written by our commercial solar team, updated for 2026.
Single-Phase Primary Schools: How Much Solar Can You Fit?
Many older primary schools run on a single-phase electrical supply that caps how much solar you can fit. Here's the ~13–17 kW per-phase limit explained, the difference between G98 and G99, and when a three-phase upgrade pays.
Read guide → Listed buildingsSolar on a Listed or Victorian School Building: What's Possible
Can you put solar on a listed or Victorian school building? A practical guide to Listed Building Consent, conservation areas, working with heritage teams, and managing asbestos (ACM) on pre-2000 school roofs.
Read guide → Battery storageThe Term-Time Problem: Does Your School Solar Need a Battery?
School solar over-generates during the holidays and weekends when the building is empty. Here's the term-time problem explained — self-consumption percentages, when a 50–150 kWh battery pays, and how the Smart Export Guarantee monetises the surplus.
Read guide → CurriculumTurning Your Solar Array into a Teaching Resource (KS2/KS3)
How to turn a school solar array into a genuine teaching resource — live-generation displays, curriculum links across Geography, Science and Design & Technology, and green-ambassador programmes for KS2 and KS3.
Read guide → MATSolar for Multi-Academy Trusts: A Procurement & Rollout Guide
A trust-level guide to procuring and rolling out solar across a multi-academy trust — the estate-wide business case, a single Salix or PSDS application, phased delivery, central monitoring and ESFA handbook compliance.
Read guide → Cost guideHow Much Do Solar Panels for a School Cost in 2026?
What solar panels for a school cost in 2026 — cost per kW, worked examples for primary, secondary and multi-academy trust projects, and realistic payback with Salix funding.
Read guide → FundingCan You Really Get Free Solar Panels for a School?
Free solar panels for schools sounds too good to be true. Here's the honest picture — how Salix, PSDS, CIF and a solar PPA can get panels on your roof at little or no upfront capital cost.
Read guide → FundingSalix vs PSDS vs CIF: Which Funds Your School's Solar?
A plain-English decision guide to the three main funding routes for school solar in the UK — Salix Decarbonisation Loan, PSDS Phase 4 and the Condition Improvement Fund — with a side-by-side comparison table.
Read guide →