Sonnenstromfabrik supplies photovoltaic modules for sophisti-cated sun protection structures
Sonnenstromfabrik (www.sonnenstromfabrik.com), an innovative and quality leading European manufacturer of photovoltaic modules from Wismar (Germany) and the installation specialists Provence Eco Energie from Saint Andiol near Montpellier (France) jointly realized a project with a high-transparent photovoltaic sun protection structure for the Collège de la Nativité in Aix-en-Provence. The environment-friendly solution ensures enough luminescence but also effective sun protection in the school building's inner courtyard. The area covers 270m² and the construction provides beside sun protection also light, rain protection and electricity production. The Collège de la Nativité was inaugurated in 2019 and is part of a school complex with primary school, grammar school and collège. With the photovoltaic powered courtyard, the collège makes a strong statement for more sustainability in public buildings.
The transparent double glass modules are combining natural light and sun protection in a very harmonic way. Thanks to its sophisticated aesthetics, the photovoltaic sun protection structure also meets highest architectural requirements whilst contributing to green power generation.
The construction was realized with 32-cell, highly translucent double-glass photovoltaic modules from the Sonnenstromfabrik. The modules are part of the Brilliant series, which is designed in the dimension of Sonnenstromfabrik’s 60 cells Excellent series. The translucency of natural light is realized via a reduced number of cells. In the current project a cell matrix of 32 harmonically distributed high-performance cells was deployed so that a translucency of 50 percent is achieved.
The project design was made in consultation with all project participants - the Collège administration, the project developers from Provence Eco Energie, the architects Bonnier Architecte & Associés and Sonnenstromfabrik. Several alternatives have been evaluated, in particular with the 48- and 54-cell modules of the same Brilliant series.
Xavier Blanc, Associate Director of Provence Eco Energie: "Thanks to our long-term experience in implementing technical products, we can support our customers in the realization of their specific and complex projects".
Dr. Bernhard Weilharter, Managing Director of Sonnenstromfabrik: "We are delighted that with our Brilliant module series we have an optimal solution for the currently increasing need for sun protection and sustainable energy generation in our portfolio. In addition to school buildings and kindergartens, applications could also cover carports, shopping malls as well as office and industrial buildings and greenhouses."
