Battery storage is becoming the new norm in solar schools, with more than 130 facilities across the country adopting storage solutions, aiming to unlock energy and emission savings and build greater resilience for their school communities.
This shift is in part driven by a raft of government initiatives and worsening feed-in tariffs, which mean that exporting solar is no longer the cash cow it once was. By adding batteries, schools can get more value from their solar by storing and using it, instead of selling it to the grid.
School-based virtual power plants
Several initiatives are supporting schools in adopting solar and batteries, and bringing these assets together to form Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). These VPPs aim to reduce bills and emissions, while offering services that maintain a stable and reliable grid.
In New South Wales, the state government’s Smart Energy Schools Pilot Project has enabled the installation of 17 megawatts (MW) of solar and 4.6 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery storage capacity across 79 schools.
With the bulk of these schools operated under a VPP, these solar and battery systems are estimated to save 3,227 tonnes of CO2 and $800,500 annually across participating facilities.
One of these schools is Nimbin Central School, which installed a 60kWh battery and 66kWs of rooftop solar, operated under the New South Wales Government’s school VPP. Over the course of the year, the solar system generates 100 MWh of energy, offsetting the school’s consumption. For Nimbin Central students, becoming a zero-net energy school has been a tangible form of climate action and a great way to learn about the energy system.
Similar projects have been delivered in other states. In Western Australia, 17 schools have adopted batteries as part of the Schools VPP Pilot Project from Synergy, a government-owned energy generator and retailer. And in Queensland, Townsville Catholic Education worked with partners to install 8 MWh of battery storage and 5 MW of solar across 27 schools, with plans to operate these under a VPP in the future.
Back-up and resilience batteries
In remote, regional or disaster-prone areas some schools are adopting back-up batteries to keep power on when the grid goes down and provide critical services to those in need.
For instance, in 2024 Healesville High School installed 152 kWh of battery storage alongside 50 kW of solar, forming part of their energy back-up system. Located in the Yarra Valley, a bushfire-prone area, the battery can power critical on-site services when grid supply fails, a common occurrence during fires and other natural disasters.
Similar models have been deployed in the Colac Otway Shire, where the Apollo Bay P-12 College has enough storage capacity to support basic services in an outage. They can prioritise key energy needs such as device charging and heating for food and water, which are critical during an emergency.
Off-grid alternatives
But VPPs and back-up systems are not the only feasible options. In some locations, going fully off-grid may be the smart choice.
In Two Rocks Western Australia, the Atlantis Beach Baptist College was looking at a cost of $250,000 to connect to the local grid. Due to these high connection costs, the school decided to install a 30 kWh battery with 20 kW of solar, complemented by a heat pump hot water system which offered a far more affordable energy solution. This system has been sufficient for the small school to operate off-grid since 2017, sustained from its own solar capacity.
Where to from here?
As the energy system evolves, many schools across the country are making the most of opportunities to install battery storage. Whether it’s taking part in existing government-funded initiatives, signing up for VPP trials or assessing costs and benefits of going 100% off-grid, there’s a plethora of options coming to the fore. It’s clear from these promising new initiatives that school batteries are becoming the new norm and the natural next step for many schools.
This article was originally published by Yarra Energy Foundation, here. Reproduced with permission.
