Energy harvesting project begins
14 Sep 2017 by Evoluted New Media
An European consortium of researchers will begin work on developing a next-generation, energy harvesting façade that can be retrofitted on existing buildings.
A European consortium of researchers will begin work on developing a next-generation, energy harvesting façade that can be retrofitted on existing buildings.
The €6m four year ‘PLUG-N-HARVEST’ project aims to harvest solar energy and convert it to electricity or heat to warm the building. After the technology has been developed further it will be tested in four different multi-building pilots in Germany, Spain, Greece and the UK.
Facing forward
Dr Hu Du, Principal Investigator from Cardiff University, who are involved in the project said: “The project will tackle the challenge of integrating energy-harvesting technologies into existing buildings, and will provide an excellent platform to enhance our relationships with world-leading industrial partners.”By making use of renewable energy, the collaboration aims to reduce reliance on traditional energy resources, helping lower energy bills. Different façade configurations will be modeled to see how it can be used most efficiently in different European climates.
Cardiff University researchers have been awarded €310,000 to work on a range of research tasks that will include system performance optimisation and evaluation. The Horizon 2020 project will bring together 13 partners in Greece, Germany, Spain, Romania and the UK, including universities, industry partners and local authorities.
