Our Projects
Westfield Academy
Westfield Academy is one of three comprehensive schools in Yeovil, South Somerset. Westfield Academy is particularly suited for the fitment of solar PV and has suitable buildings in the Upper and Lower School, whose electrical generating capacity is estimated to be about 200kW.
Following presentations to the Head Teacher and Business Manager, and later to the Business Sub-Committee of the Academy Governors, Westfield Academy confirmed their interest (subject to detail surveys and contract) to SSCES on 10th June - see Appendix D.
From a study of the school's electricity usage, it is expected that almost all of this electricity will be used in term-time.
Feed-In Tariffs are expected to return about £18,700 per annum. It will not be economic to claim export tariff in this case as the fixed cost of a connection to the grid will exceed the revenue generated.
Electricity will be charged to the school at less than half their normal rate, which will result in a saving to the school of over £10,000 in the first year alone.
Installation is scheduled to take place in September 2015.
Although the installation is 'permitted development', planning approval (not planning permission) is required for an installation of this size. This is handled at officer level in South Somerset District Council. A structural survey will also be carried out before proceeding with the installation.
Update. The Westfield solar arrays have exceeded 160MWh per year in 4 out of 7 full years of generation.
