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The California Academy of Sciences (Academy) in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California is to reopen this weekend following a closure for establishment of the new facility. An interesting aspect of this new construct is the ‘Living Roof’, an architecturally designed display roof that features 60,000 SunPower solar cells incorporated in 720 custom-built glass panels.

The panels form a 172kW BIPV electric system that will generate up to 10 percent of the Academy’s energy needs

"We applaud the Academy's decision to include SunPower's high-efficiency solar technology as part of its new building, which is expected to earn a LEED platinum certification," said Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower. "The SunPower high-efficiency solar cells are an important element of Renzo Piano's roof design and a functional solution for generating pollution-free solar energy to support the planetarium, aquarium and rainforest inside the museum."

By Síle Mc Mahon