Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Environmental Sustainability

History of Solar at Warwick

The University installed its first building scale solar PV system in 2009 when the Clinical Trials Unit was built at the Gibbet Hill Campus.

Almost every major building project since has had a solar PV installation and by the end of 2023, there were 42 solar installations of varying sizes totalling around 1,300KW of peak generation and providing over 1,000,000 KWh per year - enough to meet the year round day and night energy needs of around 385 households.

PV has also been the subject of academic and research study with solar panel test facilities in the engineering department with solar simulators, and product trials on the roof of the Science Building.

Solar generation over time:

University of Warwick Total Solar PV Generation (kWh)by day and year; Average Solar PV Generation (kWh) by time and year; Average Hourly Solar PV Generation (kW/hr), Maximum Hourly Solar PV Generation (kWh)

Solar capacity over time:

What we are doing- now and next

plan for the next phase

  • Delivering a £4m investment in on-site generation over 2 phases (2023-25)​

      • Phase 1: 550 KW peak output complete on flat roofs. The 2024 installations have increased or existing capacity by 45% and energy generation by almost 50% to 1,500,000 KWh per year (577 households) in total

      • Phase 2: Targeting ~1,400 kW peak output (2025) on pitched roofs

      • Phase 3: ~6,000 kW peak output Ground Array (capable of delivering a large percentage of demands at peak output)