Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, launches 'adopt a solar panel' project in £10k climate change venture (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, launches 'adopt a solar panel' project in £10k climate change venture

11:36am Tuesday 20th November 2012 in News By Steven Bell, Senior Reporter

KIRKBY Lonsdale residents are being asked to ‘adopt’ a solar panel as Queen Elizabeth School embarks on a £10,000 climate change project.

Pupils want to make their school more environmentally-friendly after researching the impact of the school buildings’ electricity consumption.

They have appealed to parents and the wider community to donate money online via the Solar Schools website - www.solarschools.org.uk - to fund the project.

For £5, donators can ‘adopt’ a single solar cell, while £100 will buy a whole panel.

The website will display the donations received by lighting up one or more ‘virtual solar squares’.

Rosie Russell-Cohen, a lower sixth pupil and one of the students behind the idea, said: “So many terrible things are already happening in the world as a result of climate change that we felt we must do something to create a more environmentally sustainable future.”

Chemistry teacher Rachel Whiteley added: “I’ve been really impressed by how the students have taken on this project.

“They are really working hard to bring the issue of clean, sustainable energy to the attention of everyone in the local community.”