Solar farm for Sheffield University

22/06/2010

The University of Sheffield is setting up a new solar farm on the roof of one of its buildings, as part of a £120,000 project.

Sheffield Solar Farm will be based on the 70m² photovoltaic panels on the roof of the university's Hicks building.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is funding the project, which is aimed at boosting photovoltaic research.

The photovoltaic panels have been expected to be helpful for both the University as well as researchers and developers around the UK.

In an effort to improve knowledge of renewable energy sources, experts will be able to use the panels to field-test their new and experimental photovoltaic cell designs.

Dr Alastair Buckley, who is leading the project, said: "The Sheffield Solar Farm is an important venture as it is bridging the gap between the research lab and how solar cells are used in the real world. We want to find out how new solar technologies perform here in Sheffield and compare them to the existing state-of-the-art technologies.

"This will help to align our research into next generation cell designs with real world requirement, as well as informing customers, policy makers and other researchers which technologies are best for the UK."

The new solar farm, likely to be completed by July, will also help in reducing the university's carbon footprint by providing electricity to the Hicks Building and the National Grid.

Copyright © Press Association 2010