GS Solar's stand @ Hamburg, Germany September 2011.We have a great guest blog from Mark at IKEA Southampton, talking about the latest edition to the store!
When I heard about the IKEA global project to fit 150 stores worldwide with solar panels I was immediately thinking “please please please … let us be one of them.”
VIEW the installation VIDEO
In April I attended a meeting with the manufacturing and installation companies to learn about the project and look at the specific site requirements of transporting over 5000 solar panels up 6 flights and onto our roof!
On the 10th May I met with the installation team on their first day on site for a recycling induction. We have a high recycling percentage target at IKEA and are zero waste to landfill in Southampton so it is important that anyone working here knows how to contribute to this before they start work.
Since then I keep popping up on the roof, seeing the work take place. Firstly a giant “Meccano” type structure is being laid to support the panels off the floor so our rain water harvesting still works well.
I don’t envy the crew up there though; during either blistering sunshine or torrential rain (who says global warming isn’t effecting our weather patterns?) they have had to lay over 20 kilometres of aluminium substructure using nearly 22,000 nuts bolts and washers and using 1190 posts. To continue the staggering statistics, we will have just under 5000 solar panels, held to the substructure on 20,000 solar panel clips, cabled together using 32 kilometres of cable linking through 60 de-combiner boxes, using 720 fuses . All with the aim of producing 274 kW electricity per year from the sun! Incredible!
They even tell me they will generate electricity in moonlight but I can’t tell if they are pulling my leg on that one!
