From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

Miliband has also announced he will spend £200 million of taxpayers’ money on solar panels for schools and hospitals:

Hundreds of schools, NHS trusts and communities across the UK will benefit from new rooftop solar power and renewable schemes to save money on their energy bills, thanks to a total £200 million investment from the UK government and Great British Energy.

In England around £80 million in funding will support around 200 schools, alongside £100 million for nearly 200 NHS sites, covering a third of NHS trusts, to install rooftop solar panels that could power classrooms and operations, with potential to sell leftover energy back to the grid. The first panels are expected to be in schools and hospitals by the end of summer 2025, saving schools money for the next academic year.

Great British Energy’s first investment could see millions invested back into frontline services, targeting deprived areas, with lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400 million over around 30 years.

Estimates suggest that on average, a typical school could save up to £25,000 per year, whilst the average NHS site could save up to £45,000 per year on their annual energy bill if they had solar panels with complementary technologies installed such as batteries.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/great-british-energy-to-cut-bills-for-hospitals-and-schools

Miliband is bragging that school budgets will be boosted because of these saving. This however is a sleight of hand – it is merely using taxpayer money in GBE to pay some of the school costs, instead of allocating them to the Education Dept.

The obvious question is this – if solar panels are so cost effective, why don’t schools themselves pay for them out of their own budgets?

The answer is equally obvious – they are not cost effective, as Miliband’s own press release admits.  Note this sentence:

“lifetime savings for schools and the NHS of up to £400 million over around 30 years.”

But solar panels won’t last thirty years, or anything like it. If they are lucky, they might last half as long before they become a liability.

And over 15 years, they will only just manage to pay back the original investment, never mind cover finance costs. DESNZ savings are also based on the cut in energy bills, but nowhere do they seem to have factored in maintenance costs, which will eat into these. No business would consider wasting so much money in this way.

Overall, it does not look like the taxpayer will see any return at all on their money.

And all for what? The solar panels will inevitably be made in China, with a massive carbon footprint from the coal power used to manufacture them.

When GBE was first set up, we were assured it would soon be turning a profit. How can they do this though, when they are handing out £200 million without any obligation for it to be paid back?