The Eden Centre
Cornwall, UK
Background
The award winning Eden Project has been one of Cornwall’s most popular tourist attractions since it opened in March 2001. The remit of the site is to promote the understanding and responsible management of the relationship between plants, people and resources to create a sustainable future for all. So when the next stage of the development began – the construction of an Education and Resource Centre ('The Core') – the design of the building was always going to be of great interest, with Tim Smit, Eden’s Chief Executive predicting that it will ‘one of the most sustainable, finest modern building in the world’.
The design of the building, which was inspired by plant formations, was created by world-leading architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners.The main contractor, McAlpine Joint Ventures, worked with solarcentury on the project to integrate solar PV panels within the building's ‘Fibonacci’ roof design. The Core is the most geometrically complex roof structure into which solarcentury has incorporated solar PV.
Solar design
The Core’s orientation was not ideal for solar energy generation due to partially north facing roof angles and potential shading problems from surrounding roof lights. solarcentury therefore optimised the system’s electrical design to improve the performance of the array, in addition to careful inverter selection and PV module interconnection.
Funding
The Core has taken two years to construct at a cost of £15 million. Major sponsors included the Millennium Commission Lottery, South West Regional Development Agency, European Regional Development Fund, via Objective One.
The Core demonstrates the possibility of using solar energy in combination with complicated architecture and how standard PV panels can be incorporated within complex structures to deliver a highly aesthetic, practical solution. Despite the challenge of The Core’s intricate design, the PV was fully installed within the projects build programme.
Summary of electricity comparisons
- Generates total electricity for 7 average three-bed houses each year
- Generates enough electricity each year to light an average three-bed house for over 33 years
- Generates enough electricity to make 750,000 pieces of toast/over 1 million cups of tea every year
- Annually saves over 9 tonnes of CO2 emissions, a major greenhouse gas, equivalent to 627,800 party balloons or 5 Olympic swimming pools.
- Annual CO2 savings: account for 12 trees required to absorb CO2 over 100 years.
- To achieve the Kyoto Protocol, the UK is required to reduce CO2 emissions by 12.5% below 1990 levels by 2010. This installation offsets the contribution of 25 UK individuals to this target every year.
| Date commissioned | 2005.07.22 |
| Technology | Solar PV |
| Installation Type | Glass laminates Pitched roof |
| System size (kWp) | 30.47 |
| Forecast electricity generation / year (kWh) | 20,000.00 |
| Panel area (m2) | 270.00 |
| Building integrated | Yes |
| CO2 saving / year (kg) | 8,600.00 |
| Energy produced (kWh) | 5,000.00 |
| Date of last energy reading | 2005.09.19 |
| Type of project | Commercial |
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| The_Eden_Centre.pdf | 66.45 KB |
