Palestra Photovoltaic and Building Integrated Wind Turbines Project

Palestra, home of the LDA and LCCA. Designed by award-winning architect Will Alsop it is centrally located near the Tate Modern. 

Palestra has an extensive renewable and low-carbon energy programme including photovoltaics, wind turbines and a future fuel cell CHP system.

The Palestra photovoltaic project uses high efficiency monocrystalline cells. The selected PV manufacturer for the Palestra project is Sanyo, a leading company in PV energy systems. Each solar cell is composed of a single thin crystalline silicon wafer surrounded by ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers. The PV array is situated around the plant room on the roof and contains 335 high efficiency photovoltaic modules fixed via aluminium support to the concrete roof with a total installed capacity of 63 kWp. The PV system was designed to generate around 50,000 kWh of electricity per year, and will reduce emission of CO2 by more than 28,000 kg of CO2 per annum, and was successful in achieving this target in its first year of operation. The systems performance is displayed in Palestra's reception and on the LCCA website.

The initial installation of fourteen 1.5kW Swift wind turbines was decommissioned at the end of 2006 to allow manufacturers Renewable Devices to carry out technical and software modifications. However, the manufacturer has since produced the Swift II wind turbine and the LCCA will be evaluating this wind turbine instead of the original modified Swift wind turbine. The LCCA will use the existing infrastructure at Palestra to undertake a comparative test of the Swift II wind turbine and another wind turbine to establish their performance relative to roof wind speed prior to implementing the remaining wind turbines.

“This is the first project of its kind in the UK and shows how London is at the forefront of creative solutions to tackle climate change. This demonstrates that even in a multi-occupied building it is possible for a tenant to take control of their own energy supply and reduce carbon emissions. Any building or organisation in London can follow this example.” - Allan Jones, CEO of the LCCA

Follow this link to view how much Palestra Photovoltaic system is generating.

The project has been funded by the London Climate Change Agency. The project benefits from a grant of £155,276 awarded under the DTI Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme , managed by the Energy Saving Trust.