Horizon 2020: Photovoltaics meets history

Horizon 2020 is running a competition to find innovative ideas that will help adapt historic buildings for a low-carbon future.

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly €80Bn of funding available over seven years (2014 to 2020), plus numerous opportunities for private investment on top of this. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

This particular challenge is directed towards the construction sector, looking for ways in which to integrate new technologies, such as photovoltaics, into protected, historic buildings.

Throughout Europe, architects can face major technical constraints when integrating renewable energy into protected structures. However, it is essential that these buildings are brought into line with newer developments, lowering carbon emissions across the continent.

Horizon 2020 is calling for innovative and creative solutions to allow environmental technology to be applied aesthetically into historical buildings that represent the artistic and cultural heritage of a city.

The Horizon 2020 competition will reward a European protected historic urban district which can demonstrate the perfect integration of photovolatics into buildings to generate its own electricity. In this context the photovoltaic system includes all the necessary components to supply power within a district.

The competition is devised to encourage the integration of new photovoltaic systems into these districts and foster the development of the best suitable solution, combining architectural and aesthetics, optimal technical solutions, and delivering minimal impact and intrusion to the buildings.

While it is hoped the prize will mobilise and enhance private and public investment for replication of similar solutions in Europe.

The specific rules of the contest were published in 2016 by the European Commission, which will directly launch and manage the contest and award the prize based on the judgement of independent experts.

Registration closes 26 Sep 2018, 12:00

Award €750k

For more information on competition please click here.

 

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