This Ultramodern Building Has A Façade Completely Covered In Solar Panels
An office building wrapped in a “solar skin” is being planned in West Melbourne. This futuristic structure is set to be fully reliant on solar power, and will be the first in Australia to have a full solar-panel façade.
Located on 550-558 Spencer Street, the building is estimated to cost AU$40 million (US$29 million) and is the brainchild of architecture firm Kennon. A total of 1,182 solar panels are to be used in construction, with each having about the same thickness as the glass used on regular buildings.
The solar-panel structure, called ‘SKALA’, is manufactured by the German company Avancis. Here, the modules are topped with thin-film PV, adhered to a system of electricity-generating channels connected to the main power supply. With these, the building will supposedly be able to generate more than 50 times the energy of a regular rooftop solar panel. The ability to harvest and utilize its own energy to power the building could reduce over 70 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
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The building was designed to be almost completely self-sufficient and, in a few years, will be able to pay off its carbon debt from the construction of the building and be carbon neutral. The solar panels are undergoing a last round of testing and once approved will be available for other buildings to use as well.
[via The Guardian and PV Magazine, cover image via Kennon]
