THE sun shone down on a Vale eco-school as they celebrated the installation of solar panels.

Bretforton First School was thrilled to see the panels put up in the latest development in their Eco-School plan.

The panels, which was funded by Worcestershire County Council's Spend to Save scheme, are expected to have paid for themselves in just under nine years time.

Ayse Moseley, headteacher at the school said: "As an Eco Mentor School for this district, sustainable energy has been a particular interest. It was lovely to see the children’s faces as they walked into school and saw the panels.

"With the special display, the children can now see exactly how much energy is being produced by the panels and how much energy is being used in school.

"Our Eco-Committee have some interesting challenges planned to help us reduce our energy usage and the new equipment will play a key part in monitoring this.

"Teaching children to be responsible for the environment is key to the future of our planet and we are proud to be contributing to this."

The 16 panel 4 kWp solar PV array reduces the carbon footprint of the school by 1,921 kg CO2 per annum and the energy saved and income generated through the Feed in Tariff equates to just over £1,000 per annum.

Councillor Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for environment, said they were committed to doing everything to reduce carbon emissions.

"Its brilliant news that local children attending the school will have the opportunity to not only learn about solar energy but actively get involved in seeing how it works in practice," he said.

Schools interested in getting solar panels or other energy saving initiatives should visit worcestershire.gov.uk/spendtosave or email energy@worcestershire.gov.uk for more information.