Immersa Ltd
Harnessing Renewable Energy
Wycliffe College, Stroud
Wycliffe College is a blend of old and modern buildings. With multiple Solar Panel installations over five different roofs, Immersa has helped the College save money and reduce the environmental impact of the school.
Project Overview
Located in the Cotswolds, Stonehouse, Wycliffe College is a leading independent school established in 1882. With a prestigious reputation, they offer high quality education and boarding to those locally and around the world.
Wycliffe’s campus features a harmonious mix of historic buildings and modern facilities. They provide educational environments from pre-prep and nursery through prep school and into senior education.
Wycliffe catering to a wide range of students and offering various amenities so each building has its own unique challenges and energy demands.
Recognising this, Wycliffe wanted to make the move towards becoming more sustainable and efficient in the way they use their energy so contacted Immersa to help identify where best to make changes across the campus.
Consultancy
Over a few weeks, we visited Wycliffe’s campus to understand exactly which buildings were in highest demand from the grid. Once we understood the needs of the school, we put together a full proposal detailing which solar panel system would be the most suitable, a breakdown of when the system would perform its best and financial models detailing cost and savings.
- Art & D.T. – multiple roof directions
- Finance – convex roof
- Dining Hall – circular roof
We recommended roof mounted solar for 5 roofs on 3 buildings. All of which had individual elements we had to consider.
In addition to providing solutions for the structural complexities, we also had to prioritise the school’s operational needs, ensuring minimal disruption during term times. Luckily, our team of solar panel installers are very experienced when working on commercial sites and are very professional in their approach when it comes to respecting the daily ongoings of business.
Solar Panel system
The solar panel system was contrived of over 142kWp across the five roofs. With each roofs varying size and orientation the panels were divided into the best split for optimal solar production.
The Art and DT Building had a 66-panel system installed with 26.1kWp solar P.V.
The Finance Building had a 131-panel system with 52.9kWp solar P.V.
The Dining Hall had a 140- panel system installed with 63.3kWp solar P.V.
Due to Wycliffe’s high demand during the day, we didn’t feel commercial battery storage would be necessary and therefore wasn’t installed this time around.
Discreet installation
We worked around Wycliffe’s academic calendar and carried out the solar panel installation over a 3-week period. We communicated back and forth throughout the process so were aware of any changes that would impact the process.
During this time our team installed 337 panels and over 142kWp of solar all the while ensuring there were no interruptions to learning. Since being back we spoke to facilities manager, Mark Rickard, who let us know the school “hardly noticed” we were there!
We're over the moon with how the system is performing. Our expectations have been exceeded and we are actually saving even more than we thought we would. Immersa installed during term time and were very professional, keeping disruption to an absolute minimum. We couldn’t recommend them enough
In Summary
Immersa’s partnership with Wycliffe College demonstrates the potential for schools, colleges and universities to benefit from commercial solar panels.
With significant financial and carbon savings, and a short payback period, Wycliffe College is a trailblazer for other schools and colleges.
Wycliffe’s pro-active approach aligns with the growing importance of
environmental responsibility within our educational institutions.
If you want to find out more about a rooftop solar panel and/or commercial battery storage installation at your premises, please get in touch today and one of our experienced advisors will be in touch to discuss your requirements.