university of birmingham library

Photon Energy installed a 114.5 kWp photovoltaic (PV) system on the University of Birmingham's new library working alongside Carillion. The state-of-the-art building was officially opened September 2016.

The system comprises of 350 Sunpower high efficiency PV modules mounted on 4 different roof areas, the inverters are located at a single location. In order to provide a higher level of health and safety protection, fireman’s switches were installed that isolate the DC cables entering the building in case of fire or other emergencies. The system has a total installed capacity of 114.5 kWp and is expected to generate around 92,000 kWh of energy per annum.

Lefteris Giraleas, Project Engineer at Photon Energy said “Having a close working relationship with Carillion’s engineering team helped us to complete this project with minimal lost time onsite and to also meet the high standards set by the client.”

The building contains 400,000 books and publications on 12km of open access shelving. The new library will use 50% less energy than the old building.

Lee Owen, Principal Building Services Manager at Carillion Plc said: “Working with Photon Energy on University of Birmingham’s new library was a very positive experience and we are happy with the quality of the finished product”.

Equipment summary:

• System size: 114.5 kWp

• Energy generation: 92,000 kWh/year

• Carbon emissions saving: 47.7 tCO₂/year. 

• PV modules: SunPower 327 Wp

• Inverters: Zeversolar

• Mounting System: Sunfixings