About the Project

At Ocean Spa Plaza in Gibraltar, the shopping centre car park entrance façade generates electricity. We supplied 156 blue-tinted, semi-transparent solar glass panels that sit in the building's curtain wall like ordinary glazing.

About the Project

Ocean Spa Plaza is a 53-metre mixed-use building in Ocean Village, Gibraltar. It has apartments, commercial floors and a car park. Its architects, Morgan Carn Partnership, specified our PS-CT thin-film solar glass for the car park entrance. This let part of the curtain wall produce electricity as well as close in the building.

The Challenge

The architects set us three clear requirements, and the project timeline added a fourth:

  • A brand colour. The panels had to be blue to match Ocean Village's brand colour, "OV Blue" (Pantone 7687). At first, the architects planned to stick a blue film to the back of the panels on site.
  • The right level of transparency. The panels sit in front of a rendered block wall that will gather dust over time. The glass had to hide this background while still letting enough light through to generate power.
  • A standard curtain wall. The panels had to fit a Kawneer AA100 curtain wall system next to ordinary double-glazed units and spandrel panels.
  • A tight finish. Despite a two year lead up with designs and specifications, the order didn't come until April . By then, the building was due to be finished that September. The order also had to pass through several parties: the developer, the architects, main contractor Sacyr and its electrical subcontractor, TEUR.

The Solution

We supplied PS-CT-64 panels. These are frameless glass-glass laminates made with cadmium telluride (CdTe), a thin-film solar material. Each panel measures 1200 x 600 mm and is 6.8 mm thick, so it fits the curtain wall like any other glazing unit.

We didn't use a film applied on site. Instead, we built the colour into the panel itself with a blue PVB interlayer laminated during manufacture, matched to RAL 5010. This gives an even, durable finish that can't peel or scratch off.

The architects first asked about 30% transparency. We recommended 20%. This hides the block wall behind more effectively and gets more power from each panel.

TEUR ordered the panels and designed the electrical system. We delivered 156 panels and 5 spares to site in Gibraltar, giving a 9.98 kWp system. (kWp, or kilowatt-peak, is the system's maximum output.)

The Result

Ocean Spa Plaza now has a 9.98 kWp solar façade in the developer's own brand colour. The project shows that solar glass can match a specified colour and fit a standard curtain wall system, so you can add generation to a façade without changing how it looks.

Technical Specification

  • System size 9.98 kWp
  • Panel model PS-CT-64 (64 W)
  • Panel count 156 installed, plus 5 spares
  • Technology Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film, glass-glass laminate
  • Panel size 1200 x 600 x 6.8 mm, frameless
  • Transparency 20%
  • Colour Blue PVB interlayer, RAL 5010
  • Mounting Kawneer AA100 curtain wall system
  • Warranty 10-year product warranty; performance warranty of 90% output at 10 years and 80% at 25 years

Project Details

  • Sector Mixed-use residential and commercial
  • Client Ocean Village

Project Partners

Installation Partners

  • Main Contractor Sacyr
  • Electrical Contractor TEUR (Técnicas Eléctricas Urbanas)

Want solar glass in your own façade? Get in touch to discuss your project: 01223 911534

design photo
design photo
design photo