Building a solar bridge in Lon Don

Solarcentury, the United Kingdom, started building the world's largest solar bridge as part of a new tram station in Blackfriars, London.

Engineers are expected to install more than 6,000 m ² of photovoltaic panels (PVs) on the bridge across the River Thames, Victoria, which is estimated to provide about 900,000 kWh of electricity each year.

Under the plan, the tram network will use about 50% of the energy supplied from the world's largest solar bridge under the new tram station in Blackfriars, London and this will help cut about 511 tons of CO ₂ emissions per year. The fund to build this bridge is about £ 7.3 million, paid by the Environmental Protection Fund and the Traffic Safety Agency.

Other energy-saving measures at the new tram station will include the use of salvage systems: rain water and natural sun light thanks to the pipes.

London-based Solarcentury has worked with engineering firm Jacobs to integrate photovoltaic panels (PVs) on the dome of the 343m and 37m wide train station. These solar modules are manufactured by Sanyo Electric.

The engineer who designed Solarcentury for the project, Simona Mameli, told The Engineer that: Engineers had to use the solar inverter smaller than the integrated components to mount the maximum amount of tissue - Solar modules (PV) can, on this specially designed dome.

"We are trying to make use of the space in the dome so that we can maximize the number of modules attached. This also brings many challenges," Simona Mameli said.

Once the solar modules (PV) have been installed on the first four panels on the dome, all operations will stop to re-evaluate the design, and the work will start over at the end of the month. 12, 2011, with the installation of all solar modules (PV) in the remaining 98 panels on the dome in the spring of 2012.

"We have vertical modules that are nearly 15 meters long on the roof and we have around 190mm of spare space, so this dome structure is extremely tight , " Mameli said. That is why we may need, meticulously designed according to each location of the dome seams, each position a bit different.

Shigeki Komatsu, director of the solar supply division of Sanyo, a European branch, said : "The high efficiency of our solar modules is the ideal product to summarize the maximum energy, so selecting the installation area needs to be carefully considered ".

Through the provision of solar modules on the dome of the tram station in London, Sanyo hopes to raise people's awareness and understanding of solar technologies and renewable energy forms, demonstrating how the company can help protect the urban environment and minimize the impact of global climate change.

The bridge was built in 1886, laying the foundation for the formation of the tram station in Blackfriars today, as part of an upgrade to the rail network effort connecting the banks of the Thames. This project will allow trams to travel from Bedford to Brighton and is expected to be completed by 2018.

Lindsay Vamplew, project manager of Railroad's Network for Blackfriars, said: "We are creating a tram station, spacious and modern and providing a significantly improved service for passengers. The installation of the world's largest solar bridge in London, demonstrates the idea of ​​environmentally friendly and sustainable renewable energy use. "

"The bridge of the rail system in Blackfriars, Victoria is part of the nation's railway history, built in the era of steam energy use, we preserve and restructure accordingly. with the 21st century solar technology to create an iconic tram station for London's capital ".

The world's first solar bridge is named: Kurilpa, which is a 470m long viaduct in Brisbane, Australia, built in 2009. It provides about 40,000 kWh of electricity per year.