Wrapping up 2024 in the final quarterly newsletter
End of year update on Gawcott Fields Community Solar’s community impact and performance.
...read moreOn Friday 24th March, Earth Energy Education ran a workshop for Lace Hill Academy’s Year 4 pupils followed by an afternoon of activities at Gawcott Fields Community Solar Farm. The students were given a tour of the Solar Farm, where they learnt about the components of the solar farm, how the energy travels through them and took part in many energy related activities.
“The children had a great time making solar circuits and they were really impressed with the solar farm. To get privileged access to something so unusual is a real treat and we are all very grateful”
Jason and Naveen from Pfalzsolar explained to the students how the farm works and were on hand to answer the pupils’ many questions throughout the trip. Students began by thinking about the flow of energy from the sun to the sockets in the pupils’ homes. Using pictures to help, they learned that for energy to make this journey it has to go through the following equipment: solar panel – combiner box/inverter – transformer – national grid. Having learned these new terms, they began their walk around the farm to look for each component. Jason and Naveen explained the role each piece plays in generating electricity. Pupils were especially excited to see inside the transformer station and, at a safe distance, learning that this is where the energy from each inverter accumulates and is stepped up to 33,000 volts before being carried underground for a mile to join the national grid.
When walking around the solar farm pupils had a solar farm I-Spy to complete. They recognised many of the pictures on the list and were keen to count exactly how many of each component they had seen. As well as looking for more features of a solar farm like CCTV cameras, the Year 4 class enjoyed walking through the long grass and making up songs like Old Macdonald Had a Solar Farm, in which they inventively replaced all of the animals with the equipment from their solar farm I-spy.
“Old Macdonald had a solar farm. E I E I O. And on that farm he had a transformer. E I E I O. With a buzz buzz here and a buzz buzz there…”
Students also completed a biodiversity study, and took on the challenge of finding the spot with the highest light levels using lux-metres. They enjoyed finding bugs and learned that solar farms provide a habitat for many insects, mammals and birds and the importance of protecting these areas. Their trip culminated in the sighting of a Red Kite; their school emblem. Pupils said it was the most fun they’d ever had on a school trip and asked if they could come back again soon.
End of year update on Gawcott Fields Community Solar’s community impact and performance.
...read moreBuckingham Town Cricket Club and Buckingham Rugby Club are celebrating a year of renewable energy success after installing solar panel systems on their clubhouses.
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