Page 39 - Between light and shade

Light, transparency and reflection

In the meantime, the data relating to the
harvesting of solar energy, at all points on the
planet and whatever the orientation, has also
become available to download, for example from
the website of the Joint Research Centre (Euro-
pean) in Ispra, Italy 25.

It enables polar charts to be produced, like
the two that I prepared for the Issol project in
the “Les Plénesses” zoning in Verviers, Belgium
[01/592, latitude 51°N, Fig. 6 and 7] and that for
the reception centre for the cultural village of
Lujiazhi in Zhoushan, China [01/574, GM 26, lati-
tude 30°N, Fig. 8 and 9]. It also shows the path
of the sun. It specifically shows that the annual
energy, in kWh/m², harvested on a North facing
vertical face, is still 35% of the South facing
optimum for Belgium and 20% for Zhoushan.

Thus far, we have endeavoured to use these
cells sparingly by generally aligning them, as
recommended by traditional best practice,
perpendicular to the azimuth position of the sun
on 21st June. Today, the sharp fall in the cost of
cells and the availability of sunshine statistics
have completely overturned this paradigm. Cell

25 E-mail: jrc-info@ec.europa.eu
26 This is the point, at the end of 2009, when I began to work with

Georges Meurant, whose compositions of coloured rectangles
have since appeared in a large number of projects (indicated
by the initials “G.M.” after the file no.). Regrettably, this first
project in Zhoushan was marred, since it was not possible to
manage the implementation plans, or the construction site.

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