ESF and CLPe Solutions Join Hands to Bring Solar Energy to Eight School Campuses

The English Schools Foundation (‘ESF’) and CLPe Solutions Limited (‘CLPe Solutions’) have announced the completion of a large-scale solar project in eight ESF schools, promoting the use of green energy and highlighting the importance of energy conservation and sustainability to the next generation.

ESF Renaissance College students, Jane Chan (a 2020 graduate), Taylor Chung and Ankita Joshi (current Year 13 students), who are all members of the Student Sustainability team, first came up with the idea to use the expansive roof area in their school campus to generate green, solar energy. Jane and her team initiated the project themselves and applied for funding, commissioned designs and worked with the contractors to deliver the scheme.

Building on this initial idea, a total of over 1,400 solar panels have been installed with a generation capacity of approximately 455 kW across eight campuses. As one of the largest solar projects in the primary and secondary school sectors in Hong Kong, the green energy generated by the solar panel systems over the course of a year will be enough to meet the annual electricity needs of around 110 four-person households in Hong Kong and reduce almost 280 tonnes of carbon emission.

CLPe Solutions provided a one-stop solar solution to ESF from system design to construction, operations and maintenance. Under the Feed-in Tariff (‘FiT’) scheme of the two power companies in Hong Kong, the solar systems connected to the grid will generate FiT income for ESF.

“What is remarkable about this project is that our students are able to translate what they have learned into action in the real world – what an extraordinary achievement,” ESF Chief Executive Officer, Belinda Greer, said today.

“When we started our sustainability initiative in 2019, we had no idea that it would produce the type of results that we are seeing today. Our students care deeply about their environment and the world that they live in. This scheme shows that they are switched on to creating a sustainable future for themselves, their classmates and the people of Hong Kong.”

Alex Keisser, Managing Director of CLPe Solutions said, “This is CLPe Solutions’ largest solar project for a school, spanning over eight different campuses. We tailor-made the most suitable solar solution for each campus considering its location and rooftop environment. We are also offering a cloud-based ‘Renewable Energy Management Platform’ to monitor each solar panel system’s real-time performance and make the dashboard available to the schools and their students. This shows our customer-centric approach and expertise in providing one-stop solar solutions.

“CLPe Solutions also organised solar energy workshops for ESF’S teachers and students. We are pleased to support ESF in adopting renewable energy and inspiring the next generation for a greener tomorrow,” he added.

Photo caption:
The solar panel system in ESF King George V School, which is a Grade II historic building in Hong Kong. The installation of the solar panel system in the school requires sophisticated planning and treatment in order to ensure the highest level of protection to the historical building.

Annex

List of Eight ESF Schools with Solar Panel System Installed:

• ESF Bradbury School
• ESF Clearwater Bay School
• ESF King George V School
• ESF Kowloon Junior School
• ESF Renaissance College
• ESF Sha Tin College
• ESF South Island School
• ESF West Island School

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