13.10.2005
The University of Brighton is to house the largest solar thermal installation, in a higher education institution in Europe, at its Eastbourne campus.
Installed at the Hillbrow Sports Complex to heat the water in the 25m swimming pool, this innovative development will save the university approximately 30 tonnes of CO2 each year. Over the life expectancy of the system, expected to be over 35 years, the system will save in excess of 1,000 tonnes of CO2.
The array of 60 Riomay evacuated glass-tube panels installed by Cel-f Solar Systems Ltd, span a gross area of 180m2 and will produce more energy per square metre per year than any other commercially available panel in the world.
Eastbourne, claims to be the sunniest town on the South Coast, and the installation will not only reduce carbon emissions but will also provide a valuable education resource to students at the university and potentially at schools throughout East Sussex.
A display unit will be erected in the foyer of the complex and will monitor the performance of the solar equipment. The data could be fed through to university and school computer systems to enable students to study the effectiveness of renewable energy.
The university, along with six other environmentally responsible UK universities, is a voluntary member of the 'University Carbon Club', all of whom have been set a target to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions as part of the Governments Emissions Trading Scheme.
"We were pleased to incorporate environmentally friendly power generation as part of the university's energy portfolio," said Julian Crampton, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Brighton. "We will also be using the solar panels as a research tool to look at how much energy they absorb and how much is transferred into the poolwater."
For further information please contact either Rebecca Haroutunian at the University of Brighton on 01273 643022 (email: rebecca.haroutunian@brighton.ac.uk) or Chris Lee at Talk Up on 01323 833523 (email: chris@talk-up.com)
Contact: Marketing and Communications, University of Brighton,
01273 643022
