Last updated: 04-10-11 13:46    
   
PV in Finland:

The total amount of PV installed in Finland is about 1.6 MWp. In practice all of this is stand-alone and remote PV for recreational houses or for professional off-grid applications. The grid-connected PV corresponds to less than 100 kWp. The number of building integrated PV systems (BIPV) is less than 10.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has included PV in its promotion programme for renewable energy which is part of the governments Kyoto programme. SOLPROS has assisted the Ministry on planning of the solar energy subprogramme.

The future focus of public supported PV in Finland is on BIPV. The target for year 2010 is to have 40 MWp BIPV installed in Finland. The Ministry is prepared to give a 30% support to PV investments, which for the time being is intended mainly for commercial buildings but may be revised also to include smaller residential sites as well. The detailed contents of the national solar/PV programme in the form of a road-map plan are under work and this effort is coordinated by SOLPROS.

The demonstration aspect is very important in starting the national programme. Finding innovative PV solutions and taking into account the developments already done within the EU are important elements as well.
Demonstration project:
Ekoviikki, Helsinki



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Brief building report:
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General about the Helsinki-Ekoviikki project
Helsinki (60 oN) is the northernmost capital of the EU countries. The city has a strong commitment to improve the environment and to enhance sustainability. As an example of this is the Ekoviikki project which is a unique ecological building site. Ekoviikki is a part of the Viikki area which is the new science suburb of Helsinki and the largest bioscience campus in Europe. The Ekoviikki site will house some 2,000 inhabitants and the construction takes place during 1999 and 2002. The whole Ekoviikki housing area will have a built area of 64,000 m2.

Ekoviikki Ecological Housing Area

Figure 1: The ecological building site Ekoviikki in Helsinki.

The Ekoviikki site has been subject to extensive sustainable planning accounting for energy and environmental improvements enabling integration of solar energy from the earliest moment and ideas. The PV project included in this proposal was also integrated into the planning and construction process. The PV project in Ekoviikki has been initiated by SOLPROS AY.

In Ekoviikki, special consideration has been given to ecological and sustainable planning principles using the so-called PIMWAG approach. This method is a multi-criteria evaluation and decision-making method in which five major factors effecting the building's environmental performance are considered including health and sustainability. Health issues are accounted for through IAQ, humidity, noise, access to sun, and living diversity. Table 1 gives the requirements for the criteria

Interfacing, system boundaries and integration have in Ekoviikki a special role as extensive energy and material savings technologies have been introduced to the houses. The minimum heat energy conservation required in the buildings is -34% from the present standard of 160 kWh/m2,a (space heat and dhw). For tap water, a -22% level is compulsory, or maximum dhw of 40-50 l/person,day. The dhw savings approaches may have an influence on the solar heating design and have therefore been carefully considered here. The level of conservation may be even stricter varying from house to house. The different energy conservation approaches in the buildings will reduce the basic energy demand which makes the use of photovoltaics more meaningful.

Table 1. The ecocriteria used in Ekoviikki.
 CATEGORY Criteria Reference Min required Max. values
 POLLUTION CO2 4 tons/m2 3.2 2.2
  Waste water 160 l/p/day 125 85
  Construction waste 20 kg/m2 18 10
  Waste 200 kg/p/day 160 120
  Ecolabels - - paints, glues
NATURAL RESOURCES Heating energy 160 kWh/m2,a 105 65
  Electricity 45 kWh/m2,a 45 35
  Primary energy 37 GJ/m2,50a 30 20
  Design flexibility - 15% 15%+
HEALTH IAQ   Class 2 Class 1
  Construction work   Class 1 Class 1
  Surface materials   Class 2 Class 1
  Moisture management   Good Very good
  Noise Present norms New norms >New norms
  Sunny, windless site   Good Excellent
  Living diversity Normal Normal 30%
BIODIVERSITY Flora   Site-specific Increased biodiversity
      plants Rainwater utilized
  Rainwater   Normal  
  Plantations   Normal Cultivation
  Ground material   On-site use On-site use

The PV-YIT project in Ekoviikki
YIT-Rakennus Oy (Ltd) is one of the building constructors at the Ekoviikki site. For the EU proposal, one of the multi-family houses to be built by YIT will be equipped with photovoltaics. The site of the building (called Salvia) is very good for solar utilization enabling the use of both the south and west facades for PV integration. The feasibility study for this PV-project has been done by SOLPROS. The preliminary planning including the integration of the PV modules is also ready.

For the PV integration, an innovative concept will be employed with a high architectural degree of integration of the PV modules into the building envelope. In the PV-YIT house, PV-laminates will namely be integrated into the balconies of a 6 story house with a living area of 1,500 m2. The PV modules will replace the ordinary balcony glasses. The PV-laminates have the same quality requirements as the glass units and the cell arrangements inside the laminates will be aesthetically optimized. The wiring and connections will be inside the balcony framing with special connectors to enable quick mounting and installation on-site. Figure 2 shows the PV-YIT building.

Figure 2: Illustration of the PV-YIT Building.


The total PV area will be 288 m2 (24 kWp) and thus PV-YIT will be the largest PV project in residential buildings in Finland. Because of the importance of the Ekoviikki site for new ecological building concepts in Finland, the PV-YIT project is considered to have a large influence in increasing the interest in PV in Finland. NAPS Systems Ltd will deliver the PV system.

Another important element in the PV-YIT building is the ICT technology. Each apartment of the building has a fixed internet connection. Modern ICT approaches are also planned for the monitoring of the PV system. All measurements on the PV will be internet based. This enables construction of a very flexible information system and gives both the building owner and local electricity network operator access to different information on the PV system (e.g. energy data, billing data). This type of energy-ICT may be applied more viable for distributed energy generation systems in general. The ICT part will be realized in close collaboration with the local utility Helsinki Energy.

The PV system will be grid connected. Several smaller inverters (15-20) will be used to minimize costs but also to maximize system reliability. The building will use all the PV electricity produced by itself and the share of PV exceeding the consumption is fed into the grid. The local utility gives a 1:1 rate for PV fed into the grid. The financial compensation for surplus PV is done through the information systems described above.

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