{"id":7801,"date":"2016-10-12T17:03:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T15:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=7801"},"modified":"2020-01-21T10:26:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T08:26:23","slug":"solar-plants-ltd-visionary-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/12\/solar-plants-ltd-visionary-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Plants Ltd: Visionary classroom?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Surely there is no better learning environment than a building which generates, stores and releases solar energy within the fabric of that building; a building that is its own power station utilising advanced materials and concepts.<\/p>\n

A visionary classroom – isn’t that the kind of place you’d like your offspring to be educated in?<\/p>\n

Partners<\/h3>\n

Such a place now exists. This Active Classroom, as it is known, is at Swansea University\u2019s SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre in Wales. SPECIFIC is an academic and industrial consortium led by Swansea University with BASF, NSG Pilkington, Tata Steel and Cardiff University as principal strategic partners.<\/p>\n

But it takes more than major companies and academic institutions to bring a project to fruition. This is where the additional wide range of business and academic partners come in.<\/p>\n

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Victron Energy connections<\/h3>\n

Victron Energy are delighted that Solar Plants Ltd (Victron installers) and Wind & Sun Ltd (Victron distributors) are key partners in this project and it’s thanks to Ian Hewson of Solar Plants that we are aware of this project.<\/p>\n

Solar Plants Ltd is an award winning family business that has quickly grown into one of UK’s largest independent domestic and commercial renewables installers, employing nearly 100 staff from three offices.<\/p>\n

Ian Hewson, Off-grid Engineer for Solar Plants, said: \u201cWe are proud to be involved with this game-changing project, this classroom challenges commercial property design norms, and if successful will help shape the way buildings are designed going forward. Working with engineering giants TATA Steel and innovators SPECIFIC has been an incredible experience and has helped Solar Plants develop market leading knowledge in this new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Active Classroom<\/h3>\n

The Active Classroom provides teaching space and a laboratory for Swansea University students at the new Bay Campus, as well as a building-scale development facility for SPECIFIC and its industry partners.<\/p>\n

The building includes a solar air collector on the south fa\u00e7ade which draws solar-heated air through tiny perforations to provide heating and warm water, whilst computers regulate the output according to weather forecasts and the number of people in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Electricity generated by building integrated photovoltaic panels (which are laminated directly onto the roof covering) power an electrically heated floor coating.<\/p>\n

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Architect Jo Morgan said: \u201cThe SPECIFIC national innovation centre is very much focusing on the scale-up of research from the lab to buildings. Some of the technologies are new \u2013 such as the solar panels embedded onto the steel cladding \u2013 but much of our work is about integrating existing technologies into buildings in the most efficient ways and working with collaborative companies to help us to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Victron Energy equipment<\/h3>\n

Solar Plants\u2019 off-grid team were involved with the design and installation of the solar to storage connectivity, working with Victron Energy products and 60 kWh of Aquion Salt Water battery technology.<\/p>\n