London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA)
Solarcentury, the UK's leading solar energy company, has been assisting the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA), which runs all London Fire Brigade (LFB) stations and is part of the Greater London Authority, to reach its carbon reduction target. To date we have supplied solar PV systems to eight London Fire Brigade (LFEPA) stations including Bow, Battersea, Park Royal, Ruislip, Stanmore and Addington, and have recently won a tender to install photovoltaics on the headquarters of the LFEPA. The installation of solar PV is contributing to the LFEPA being ever closer to reaching a target of reducing its carbon emissions by 1,900 tonnes by 2010.
Energy roof installation at a London fire station
To reach this ambitious target, the LFEPA is also installing Combined Heat and Power units to service the station's hot water requirements, refreshing existing plant equipment, including boilers and replacing inefficient lighting. The LFB is also introducing a new fleet of fire engines to meet EU emissions targets.
Solarcentury have developed valuable installation and project management experience by working with the emergency services, allowing these 'working buildings' to function as normal during the installations.
CASE STUDY
Richmond Fire Station is one of the LFEPA's sites that is benefiting from a solar pv installation. The solar pv on the fire station is spread over three distinct areas: the roof windows, a flat roof and a pitched roof. In total the entire installation is capable of producing a total peak DC power of 17.12 kilowatts under Standard Test Conditions. The total estimated annual energy yield for the array is 11,490 kilowatt hours, and it is projected that the system will save 6,526 tonnes of carbon per year for the station.
The pitched roof installation consists of 48 Sanyo 190W pv modules, which covers a total area of 57sqm, capable of producing a total peak DC power of 9.12 kilowatts. The flat roof installation contains 32 Sanyo 190W pv modules. These modules are installed on a framework to hold them at the optimal angle for capturing daylight. The total surface of the array is 38sqm, and it is capable of producing a total of 6.08 kilowatts.
The roof windows have been installed with 24 80W pv glass-glass laminates (GGL). The peak power of the GGL in the skylights is 1.92kWp, with a surface area of approximately 38sqm.
Frank Goodall, the Station Master for Richmond Fire Station said: "Once the LFEPA got the grant for funding renewable energy installations, Solarcentury's engineers were innovative in coming up with a design that would optimise the carbon savings for this station. Now we are able to significantly contribute to our electricity use, and avoid the impact of climbing energy prices."
| Technology |
Solar PV |
| Installation Type | |
| Building integrated | |
| Type of project |
Public sector |
