A Pioneering Project

Back in 2006, when China was not yet dominating the solar panel market, the French architect Emmanuel Saadi converted an old Électricité de France (EDF) transformer building into an Industrial Hotel. A place where small industrial companies could rent space to build their goods.

His idea was brilliant: use the façade to pay heritage to the past and produce electricity. Emmanuel was selective and only the French Photowatt blue cells were acceptable. Scheuten Solar in Gelsenkirchen, DE produced the photocell strings and laminated them between low iron glass with EVA. The laminates were shipped to Vertal Nord-Est to be assembled in IGU with a low-e laminate.

Every cell was flash-tested and categorized by their power rating. We used the better cells for the south elevation. There was also a cell pattern unique for each panel. Each laminate was flash-tested to specification. As this was a new concept, we did UV accelerated aging tests on the IGUs to insure a long life to the assemblies. Finally, Groupe Goyer was the curtain waller and the IGUs were pre-assembled in their Fougères sur Bièvre plant before being shipped to site in Paris.

A total of 25,520 cells (150 × 150 mm) were used to produce the 1,048 m² façade. In theory, their output was 68 kW.