Kingspan Insulated Panels is celebrating the completion of the next phase of its ongoing drive towards sustainable manufacturing with the installation of one of its latest product developments at the state of the art manufacturing facility at Holywell. 2,900m² of Kingspan Roof PowerPanel System photovoltaic modules have now been installed and fully commissioned on the roof of one of the south facing manufacturing buildings.
The building already combines the benefits of a number of Kingspan’s own products, from highly effective insulated panel systems to passive solar renewable energy generation in the shape of the EnergiPanel system, which produces solar air heating. The addition of the photovoltaic array on the Kingspan KS1000 FC box profile roof panel makes the facility a prime example of the effectiveness of the ‘insulate and generate’ principle.
The 406.08kWp system, which comprises of one thousand seven hundred and twenty eight 235Wp Yingli crystalline PV modules, is expected to generate circa 350,000 kWhr per annum, making a significant contribution to powering the plant’s electricity needs.
The system was commissioned and approved by Scottish Power on the 7th July and has been generating power since then. It is predicted to save 163,876 Kg/CO2 per annum, allowing the company to make its own important contribution to the carbon reduction imperative.
It took just 5 weeks to complete the project, and the maintenance of the Kingspan PowerPanel has been made both safer and easier with the installation of Kingspan Safetraxx, an off-ridge fall arrest system. The Safetraxx system complies with BS EN 795 and when installed in conjunction with Kingspan insulated panels, is available with the Kingspan 25 year Total System Guarantee. An important aspect in maintaining the energy efficiency of the building envelope was that the fixings do not penetrate the insulation layer, so there are no thermal bridging problems. The system at the Holywell facility was designed and installed by Skyway Limited.
Skyway has partnered with Kingspan on Safetraxx projects throughout UK, Ireland and Europe and have designed systems for buildings as far away as South Korea. Kieran Meegan, MD said that “Skyway are delighted to work with Kingspan on the continual development of the Safetraxx system, as it is the safest and most user friendly system available that ultimately prevents maintenance operatives falling from roofs”.
Kingspan aims to ultimately power all of its manufacturing sites from renewable energy sources, and the next step to complete the process at Holywell will be the commissioning of a large wind turbine to further supply the factory’s electricity needs. A small turbine and photovoltaic cells have already been successfully used on site since 2006, providing electricity to the cutting edge Kingspan energi centre.
A similar system has also been installed at sister company Kingspan Insulation’s manufacturing facility in Pembridge, in what is currently one of the largest roof-top PV arrays in the UK. At 800kW the Pembridge system is designed to supply a significant proportion of the site’s lighting and manufacturing electricity needs. As on Holywell a Safetraxx system was designed and installed by Skyway to allow for future safe access for maintenance.
For further information please contact:
UK Tel: +44 (0) 1352 717 251 Email: info@kingspanpanels.com Web: www.kingspanpowerpanel.com
Ireland Tel: +353 (0) 42 9698500 Fax: +353 (0) 42 9698549 Email: info.ire@kingspanpanels.com Web: www.kingspanpowerpanel.com
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