Oasis Academy Lister Park paves the way to a greener future following installation of 789 solar panels

A Bradford secondary school is set to go green after recently having 789 solar panels fitted to the school roof which will produce free electricity and help the environment.

Oasis Academy Lister Park, situated on North Avenue in Bradford, and part of one of the largest multi-academy trusts in England, Oasis Community Learning are now one step closer to becoming a net zero organisation.

Oasis Community Learning has partnered with Eden Sustainable to add solar power panels across an initial fourteen school sites, which started with two sites in Bristol last month.

Over a 25-year period, Oasis Academy Lister Park will save a total of 933 carbon tonnes with a financial saving over the same phase totalling £344,979.

As Oasis gets closer to reaching their target of becoming a net zero educational organisation by 2030, there are many benefits to schools having solar power including; helping the planet and reducing the carbon footprint in their communities, it provides an excellent lesson resource for students of any age as they are seeing data in real time, and there are financial benefits involved.

Sian Dover, Principal at Oasis Academy Lister Park, where solar panels have recently been installed, said; “We are delighted to be part of this project. It’s really great to see the solar panels across the academy producing environmentally friendly energy.”

“Being part of Oasis, environmental and renewable energy is built into our curriculum and we have a number of super eco-champions who are going to be driving forward a number of environmental changes. The solar panel install is just the beginning.”

The multi-academy trust recently also switched 41 of its academies to SmartestEnergy’s renewable electricity product, that’s 80% of its schools. Under the two-year supply agreement, SmartestEnergy supplies 100% renewable electricity to Oasis Community Learning at their contracted sites from 1st November 2020 to 31st October 2022.

John Barneby, Chief Operating Officer at Oasis Community Learning, commented saying; “We believe that the education sector has a responsibility to raise awareness and empower future generations to ensure the sustainability of our planet. We are incredibly excited about this project as it will reduce our impact on the environment and represents the start of a bigger and longer-term initiative to lead the way on environmental sustainability in the education sector.”