Europe's first solar-covered concrete wall uses HeliaFilm

RECKLI, a world leader in the design and manufacture of elastomeric formliners, and Heliatek are demonstrating the next step towards a sustainable, net-zero energy building - Europe´s first solar concrete wall has been unveiled at RECKLI's headquarter in Herne, Germany. The façade, designed by RECKLI to fit the solar film from Heliatek (HeliaFilm), represents a novel approach to BIOPV - Building Integrated Organic PV. The solar active concrete wall is the result of a joint development project of RECKLI and Heliatek. With an installed power of 1kWp, the south-west oriented wall will supply around 500kWh of electricity per year. The energy produced will be used directly by Reckli. The annual energy output is expected to be about 25% above the yield of silicon technology. Heliatek has already shown that its solar film, HeliaFilm, delivers more energy under overcast sky conditions and at high temperatures compared to traditional solar cells. This advantage is based on the unique properties of its organic semiconductor. In addition, HeliaFilm allows a wide range of colours and flexible layouts - both features sought after by architects and planners. The solar active concrete façade in Herne comprises : 1 - Three rows of concrete modules with vertically mounted integrated solar film (total area: 16,8m x 3,5m) 2 - Peak Power at standard test conditions: 1kWp 3 - Expected power production per year: 500kWh "We focused for this pilot installation on how to combine the solar film and concrete modules in a reliable and aesthetic manner," explained Peter Henning, sales manager of RECKLI. "We want to demonstrate to architects, planners and investors, how the solar concrete future looks like." Dr. Thomas Bickl, Heliatek's VP sales and product development, added: "We are very happy to see the progress of our joint development project. The unique features of our solar films like ultra-thin, low weight and flexible layout fit this application perfectly. About 130 million square meters of concrete façades are installed every year worldwide - this is our target market!" Concrete façades of tomorrow RECKLI and Heliatek have been working together for three years on smart façade solutions, which combine various concrete structures and HeliaFilm. By using different colours, concrete facades can be aesthetically enhanced and simultaneously supply energy to meet urban power requirements. Building integrated organic photovoltaic (BIOPV) is able to make an important contribution to the urban power needs. The carbon footprint in large cities can be significantly improved. One major advantage of using HeliaFilm is that there is no need for ventilation or cooling systems in order to operate effectively. Additional pilot projects of RECKLI and Heliatek are in the pipeline for 2016. Market entry is planned for the second half of 2017, says the company.