General information Location: The Children’s Museum of Rome, Italy Sunshine hours (yearly average): 4,3 hours per day Type of project: Commercial Type of application: Retrofit Time for design process: Schematic: 2 weeks Final drawings: 2 months Construction documents: 4 months Time for construction: Project renovation started 1999, completion April 2001 first building. BIPV installation: 3 months Realization: 2001 [ Top ] Description The Children’s Museum of Rome project brief aimed at “offering experience, play and sociality in a unique environment - an extension to learning which is beyond normal education. By bringing together the family, school and the world of work, encourages children to learn the skills that they must acquire in order to enrich the world around them.” There was not a specific requirement to the use of photovoltaic but the exposure of children to alternative energy was supposed to be an effective illustration of the basic aim of this museum: to heighten awareness of the quality of urban life through “a transparent guided itinerary” of everyday activities. The goal of this project was to encourage the retrofit application of PV-systems as part of the restructuring and maintenance costs of older industrial buildings. In particular, the project aimed at improving the quality of the natural lighting and at decreasing the heat load of the building through the innovative design of a grid connected 15,2-kWp PV plant, located on the south pitched roof of the main building. The PV installation is divided in two industrialized systems with shading devices and skylights, to become an integral part of the industrial pavilion. The 7 kW PV canopy system works with alternating fixed and movable sections connected to the lower part of the roof, which shades the southern facade. The 8,2-kW PV system replaced part of the old roof tiles with a specially designed skylight of transparent PV glass modules. The photovoltaic polycrystalline cells transform sunlight into a 15,2-kWp plant to supply 30% of the energy required operating the museum's exhibits, or 60% of the total artificial lighting of the pavilion. [ Top ] System characteristics PV system power: 15,2 kW utility-interactive Type of building integration: roof-integrated & building canopy Type of cell technology: Polycrystalline silicon 125x125 mm, Manufacturer: Eurosolare Module dimensions: Canopy: 555 x 1215 mm, 70/120 watts (72/108) Inverters: String inverters 2,5 kW (6), Inverter manufacturer: SMA [ Top ] Project cost breakdown Design, dissemination and coordination with European partners: LIT 60 Million (€ 34 200) PV modules: LIT 107,26 Million (€ 61 150) Electrical components and installation: LIT 95 Million (€ 54 150) Structural support and installation for canopies: LIT 70 Million (€ 39 900) Total (excluding VAT): LIT 32,26 Million (€ 189 400) Cost per kWp installed = USD 10 930 (€ 12 460) Cost kWh (20 years) ~ USD 0,46 (€ 0,53) [€ 1 ~ LIT 1 936,27 Lit.] [ Top ] Performance characteristics Not relevant data are available. The installation is producing as expected. [ Top ] Project team Client: Museo dei Bambini di Roma Scarl Onlus Via Flaminia 80, Rome Italy Tel.: +39 06 3613741 Fax: +39 06 36086803 E-mail: info@mdbr.it Website: http://www.mdbr.it Project architects: Studio Italplan, Pagani Architects (co-ordinators) Design: Studio Abbate & Vigevano (designers of the PV system) Engineers: Bruno Masci (Engineering of the PV structural system) General Contractor: Moncelsi PV electrical design & installation: Gechelin Group Structural Support for PV: Italcarrelli PV manufacture: Eurosolare S.p.A. [ Top ]