Solar Case Studies - Commercial

The installation of the SB1000 Energy Roof took place on the 48 acre site of the Gazeley ‘Blade’ warehouse, Sheffield in October 2006. Sharp modules were used to provide a total of 36 SB1000 solar rooftop generators, each rated at 1kWp, which were installed to form the energy roof system without any building structural upgrade costs.

Generating over 28,000 kWh each year, the system is likely to save the CO2 emissions equivalent of eight three bedroom houses and provide 75% of the offices electricity needs.

The example of Gazeley illustrates the sharp cuts in carbon emissions that can be achieved through the application of photovoltaics, which combined with other environmentally friendly technologies can make a significant positive impact on the environment.

The largest commercial solar facade in Europe, and also one of the largest solar power systems in the UK, the CIS Tower incorporates 7,244 Sharp 80W modules which are used to clad the entire service tower.

The service core was previously covered in no less than 14 million one centimetre square, grey tesserae which were replaced by the 7,244 Sharp 80W modules.

This project demonstrates how solar power can be easily incorporated into any building refurbishment to provide an extremely cost effective alternative to conventional building materials.

The award winning Eden Project has been one of Cornwall’s most popular tourist attractions since it opened in March 2001. The remit of the site is to promote the understanding and responsible management of the relationship between plants, people and resources to create a sustainable future for all. So when the next stage of the development began – the construction of an Education and Resource Centre ('The Core') – the design of the building was always going to be of great interest, with Tim Smit, Eden’s Chief Executive predicting that it will ‘one of the most sustainable, finest modern building in the world’.

The building's design, inspired by plant formations, was created by world-leading architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners. The main contractor, McAlpine Joint Ventures, worked with solarcentury on the project to integrate 338 Sharp solar PV panels within the building's ‘Fibonacci’ roof design. The Core is the most geometrically complex roof structure into which solarcentury has incorporated solar PV

Sharp Solar PV modules help reduce the average heating bills for the 28 social housing flats to around £75 per annum.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) array(s) installed onto the block of 28 social housing flats which make up Marchant House on St Matthews Estate are made up of a total of 24nr Sharp 165W modules supplied by solarcentury.

The modules cover a total area of 31m² and are capable of producing a total peak DC power of 3.96kilowatts under Standard Test Conditions (STC). The arrays will provide approximately 3109 kilowatt hours of energy each year.

This Tesco petrol filling station has a solar roof made up of 96 Sharp photovoltaic panels.

The solar roof generates around 12,500 units of clean electricity every year, enough to power 4 three-bedroom houses, make 600,000 slices of toast or do 5,500 loads of washing!

By generating its own clean electricity (approximately 12,700 kilowatt-hours of green energy per annum is expected to be generated), Tesco’s petrol filling station will prevent 5.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere each year.

Sharp polycrystalline silicon solar modules were chosen for this project as they can be easily fitted to metal frames to give an effective low cost rooftop mounting solution.