Photovoltaic systems in school units of Greece and their consequences

The increase of greenhouse gases has lead to climate change. This has a serious impact on the ecological balance of the planet. A decisive step in order to address this problem is to implement the use of renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar, aeolian, geothermal and other forms of energy. This study refers to the installations of photovoltaic systems in school units within the framework of national existing legislation and European Union (EU) directives. The case study that has been chosen in this report is the school units in Greece which has had operating photovoltaic systems installed. More specifically the research focuses on the benefits arising from the use of photovoltaic systems showing to what degree they can contribute to reducing greenhouse gases. The survey shows that the installation of photovoltaic systems in schools units contributes greatly to saving energy, reducing costs for energy consumption, protecting natural sources and thereby has a favourable effect on climate change mitigation. On the other hand, the research also shows that potentially windy areas should be preferred to invest in construction of aeolian parks, where it is possible, rather than installing photovoltaic systems in school units. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.