Energy education live

Learning from buildings, not just in them, and linking the school’s campus and the curriculum to create a live working laboratory where students can explore curriculum subjects in a contextual way is inspirational and can help improve pupil outcomes.  Developing technology (website and Apps) to enhance the learning opportunity ensures it can be replicated across the school estate for students, teachers and staff, alike.  

  Solar for Schools (Solar für Kinder GmbH), which delivers solar panels and solar power to schools, invests in its website, learning App for students and in resources to ensure schools use their installation to empower students to learn and staff to gain knowledge to decarbonise. Its education programme takes core curriculum learning about electricity, energy, efficiency and the environment, links it with the design and installation of solar panels to engage school pupils in learning that can be done within and beyond the school gate, literally pushing students to think outside the classroom box.  Its non-prescriptive approach to learning allows subject specific, project/place-based learning methods for secondary pupils and topic-based learning for primary students.  

Aimed at improving student outcomes from the data-rich installation, its virtual education support and in-school visits from educators help students explore energy, climate change and carbon literacy. And there’s education for the school’s management team, as by removing the invisibility cloak on electricity, with easy-to-access graphs, energy use can be interrogated so everyone is empowered with knowledge that they can share to gain a better understanding of what they can do to change.

Develops knowledge and key employability skills

One stellar school in the Solar for Schools International Community of Schools is Mittelschule Herrieden, where year 8 students participated in the conceptualisation, installation and management of the their school’s solar panel installation with educators from Solar for Schools. Over 2 years, students participated in workshops about solar energy: exploring and inspecting the schoolhouse, coming up with drawings for their school’s future solar array, experimenting with different solar cells and technology, and taking part in the installation of the solar panels on an Action Day.

As an important part of the solar project, the students learned first-hand about renewable energy and took ownership of their school’s energy generation potential. After the installation, students presented a summary of their work to the rest of the students at their school, ensuring that the solar array was available for the whole school community for learning. Supported by the city of Herrieden and the school community, the project provided learning opportunities relevant for a world confronted with the affects of climate change. Furthermore, the students’ participation in the installation of the panels gave them a valuable opportunity to learn directly from professionals about highly-regarded jobs in the field of solar, improving future employability.

Solar for Schools utilises cutting edge technologies that empower students and staff to learn from their buildings not just in them; to be informed and become champions of change.