German castle now hosting brick-red PV system

A castle in Bavaria, Germany, has installed a brick-red PV system using colored solar modules from Italy-based FuturaSun. The project was enabled by a recent amendment to Bavaria’s Monument Protection Act, allowing solar on heritage buildings.

From pv magazine Germany

A PV system with brick-red solar modules has been installed on the listed Blumenthal Castle in Bavaria, Germany.

The 120 kW system is the largest of its kind in Bavaria to date, according to Italian module manufacturer FuturaSun, which supplied its red-colored FU370M Silk Nova RED panels for the project in Aichach.

German installer Elektro Schnepf GbR mounted the panels on 640 m² of the castle’s roof. The inverters were supplied by German manufacturer SMA, and the mounting system came from Schletter.

A recent amendment to the Bavarian Monument Protection Act and the use of color-matched modules enabled the installation, the companies involved said. Previously, installing a PV system on the protected roof was not permitted. With the brick-red modules, the system blends “unobtrusively” into the historic structure and received approval under heritage protection rules.

Roughly 60% of the electricity generated is consumed on-site. The former Fugger Castle now operates as a hotel with a restaurant and a cheese dairy.

“With our Silk Nova Color technology, we demonstrate that solar modules don't have to be exclusively black,” said Ricarda Gutsch, country manager Germany at Futurasun.

The PV system also fits into the castle’s comprehensive ecological concept. The heating system runs on wood chips, a private car-sharing service is available, and rainwater is partially used for irrigation.

“With the red PV system, we are not only reducing our electricity costs, but also proving that historic preservation and climate protection can go hand in hand,” said Joachim Back, the castle director. “Blumenthal Castle sees itself as a model project for a livable, public-welfare-oriented future.”

Inquiries from pv magazine about the investment amount and project timeline went unanswered.

A recent study by the University of Freiburg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems showed that color-matching solar modules on rooftops or facades can improve social acceptance of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

“An important finding of the study is that the social acceptance of PV systems depends on the type of building and visual impression,” said Angela Zhou, the lead author of the study. “These two factors weigh much more heavily than personal variables such as personal values, political attitudes or environmental concerns.”