An Oasis for Green Technologies

SCHOTT solutions no. 2/2010 > Solar Architecture

A prime example of green buildings: the offices of the multinational company Abengoa near Seville have already won several awards since construction was completed in mid-2009. The complex uses 632 SCHOTT solar modules. Photo: A. Garrido

An Oasis for Green Technologies

The Campus Palmas Altas business park in Spain was built to meet the latest standards for sustainability and energy efficiency. And solar technology from SCHOTT is a key element of it.

Alberto Zuniga

Anyone who drives along the bypass road SE-30 in the south of the Andalusian capital of Seville passes by a rather impressive office complex. Completed in mid-2009, the Campus Palmas Altas is the headquarters for the multinational corporation Abengoa and a prime example of a “green building” that meets ecological, professional and social requirements at the same time. Seven buildings that have between three and five storeys and offer approx. 47,000 square meters of office space are arranged alongside a central square. Niches for people to relax in can be found in the green gardens and many different patios that surround it. But the business park hosts other facilities as well, for instance a kindergarten, a supermarket, a restaurant, a fitness center and a small clinic.

Abengoa feels that ensuring that there is a balance between work and leisure time is a social responsibility. The idea was to create an attractive working environment for the employees. But even more, their vision and objective was to also design a futuristic building in which the potential that innovative technologies and alternative energy sources hold could be seen and felt. After all, the main focus for Abengoa and its subsidiaries is on sustainable development in areas like energy, telecommunications and the environment.

For this reason, Richard Rogers, the British architect from Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners (RSH&P) who was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and the Spanish architectural firm Vidal y Asociados Arquitectos developed an architectural approach oriented towards sustainability that relies mainly on technologies that save resources as effectively as possible. “Tests were performed on all of these systems to document their efficiency, their contribution towards saving energy and carbon dioxide, in addition to offering other benefits,” explains José María López-Bellido from Inabensa, the Abengoa subsidiary, responsible for planning and implementation of the solar technology.

High-tech among the palm trees: semi-transparent SCHOTT ASI® Thru photovoltaic modules were integrated into sunroofs (see the photo at the bottom of p. 42). They shade Abengoa’s extensive patios and reduce solar radiation that would otherwise heat up the glass façades of the buildings. Photo: A. Garrido

On the basis of this information, the semi-transparent SCHOTT ASI® Thru photovoltaic (PV) modules proved to be the ideal solution. These solar elements made of glass that are manufactured using amorphous silicon on the basis of so-called thin-film technology offer excellent performance even with high temperatures and the semi-transparent version protects against excessive solar radiation – key advantages, considering the severe climate conditions that are quite common in southern Spain in the summer. In addition, the flexible design of these glass-to-glass PV panels allows for them to be integrated directly into buildings as attractive components.

Showroom for solar technology

All of the 632 solar modules from SCHOTT were used in eight solar roofs that feature 1,382 modules in total. These solar pergolas were positioned all over the campus in such a way that they either provide shade for the patios or ensure that less solar radiation heats up the glass façades of the buildings. But they also serve as a “showroom for solar technology”, so to speak. The PV modules chosen for this were manufactured using a variety of different technologies and have different electrical characteristics. Up to seven types of modules in total are in use, including three ASI® Thru models. These solar elements are operated by two independent systems with 80 and 70 kilowatts of nominal output. According to the calculations, they generate a total of around 221 megawatt hours of electricity per year. This would be enough to supply 60 households and would save the environment some 232 tons of CO2 each year.

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