Virtu part of UK's first energy-positive office

Virtu PVT (Photovoltaic Thermal) is providing 2.4kWp electrical energy as well as 9.6kWp thermal energy to the Active Office building. 40 Virtu tubes have been designed to integrate on the South facing facade, increasing solar gain in the shoulder and winter months.

The Active Office was designed and conceived by SPECIFIC Innovation & Knowledge Centre and funded by Innovate UK, with support from Swansea University and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. Other collaborators in the project include Akzo Nobel, NSG Pilkington, Cisco and Tata Steel.

Naked Energy has proven its hybrid solar collectors for both heating water and generating electricity is the most efficient use of space on a building. The Virtu array at the Active Office also represents an innovative form of solar collection by being mounted on the South facing facade. The design enables greater solar gain in the winter and shoulder months, when the heat demand is at its greatest

“With all commercial buildings, space is at an absolute premium. Maximising energy from every square inch available is now the order of the day”.

Professor Dave Worsley, SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre says: “I think the work with Naked Energy has been really important to us because it’s given us an entirely new approach to generating both electricity and heat at the same time. I think something else that’s really important about the Naked Energy tube setup is they actually look really fantastic, so as an architectural feature on the building, they’re not only functional but people actually really like to see them”.