ALMOST 150 solar panels will help cheapen the cost of a primary school's energy bills making it one of the county's 'solar schools'.

Brookside Primary School has joined 27 others in the county benefitting from the sun's energy as 147 panels are installed on its roof.

It comes as part of a project between the school, Oxfordshire County Council and social enterprise Low Carbon Hub.

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Brookside Primary School headteacher Nick Cornell said: "We are really pleased to have the solar panels at Brookside.

"It is a great way to reduce our carbon footprint and cut our energy costs. Hopefully, this will inspire our pupils to think about climate change and what they can do to help."

Installed at no cost to the school, the solar array is funded through the Low Carbon Hub’s most recent community share offer, the Community Energy Fund.

It means the primary school will now meet almost 30 per cent of its electricity needs through the solar panels.

Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for the environment Yvonne Constance said: "Today’s schoolchildren will inherit what we leave behind.

"It is unforgivable if that’s a polluted planet.

"That’s why the council is supporting 'Solar Schools' and other environmental initiatives across the county."

She added: "Brookside School is the 20th Oxfordshire County Council maintained school to go solar.

"We are proud to be at the forefront of this project, working in partnership to take practical action to reduce our ‘carbon footprint’.

"We are determined that our children, and our children’s children will have a bright future. A ‘green’ future."

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The 27 schools across the county are said to be 'leading the way in helping to cut our county’s carbon emissions and demonstrate their commitment to the environment' according to the council.

Low Carbon Hub are working with several other schools to get them pre-registered for the 'Feed-in Tariff' before this government-backed subsidiary disappears in March 2019.

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As a community organisation the Hub has been granted an additional 12 months to complete any installations, up to March 2020.

Low Carbon Hub CEO Barbara Hammond said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming Brookside Primary School as our most recent Solar School.

"We are getting to crunch time with taking action to tackle climate change and it’s great when we see local schools take steps to reducing their impact on our planet.

"We would love to work with more schools to help them do the same."

For details lowcarbonhub.org/services/school-services