PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

A new 200 kW PV system will be the largest in the UK

When finished in March 2003, a 200 kW BIPV system in Ipswich, Suffolk, will receive the title of largest PV installation in the United Kingdom.

	© BP p.l.c.
BP Solar will integrate 87,000 solar cells into the roofs and facades of TXU Europe's new office building in Ipswich.

The £1.5 million ($1.9 million) system will provide a share of the electricity for the new headquarters of the electricity and gas company TXU Europe Power. The office building, priced at £35 million ($54.2 million), will house about 1,000 TXU staff members currently working in different offices in the Ipswich area. According to TXU spokesman Christian Judge, the company did not apply for any funding to finance the system.

BP Solar is using 87,000 mono-crystalline silicon solar cells assembled in various module types for the system. Four types of glass-to-glass modules will be incorporated into the facade, another four types will be manufactured for the atria, and more than 600 standard laminates will be installed as screening around the rooftop plant areas.