Listed building | cutting edge tech: British Library installs innovative solar tech

A pioneering sustainable energy project in numbers

•  The British Library – custodian to 170 million (and growing) collection of items ranging from newspapers and maps to sound recordings and patents
• A Grade I Listed building, recognising its outstanding architectural and historic interest
• A new installation of 950 of Naked Energy’s Virtu solar collectors across 712.5m2 of the library’s roof
• The new energy source is expected to reduce the building’s CO₂ emissions by 55 tonnes and generate 216 MWh of energy annually – the equivalent of powering and heating a community centre or swimming pool for a year
• Virtu saves up to four times the amount of carbon as standard solar PV panels

British technology scale-up company Naked Energy has been commissioned by the British Library for what is thought to be the ‘UK’s largest’ solar heat project.

A total 950 units of Naked Energy’s solar heat and electricity hybrid solution, Virtu, will be installed across the building’s rooftop, generating 216MWh each year.

Naked Energy’s solar heat and electricity Virtu product range converts the sun’s energy into heat and electricity from the same collector and said to be the world’s highest energy density solar technology – generating more energy per square metre than any other solar technology and proven to be up to four times more impactful at offsetting CO₂ emissions than conventional solar PV panels.

The technology will supply sanitary hot water and space heating for the British Library, benefiting staff and visitors alike. Allied to reduced emissions and improved comfort around the Grade I Listed building, the solar collectors will also help to maintain the precise temperature and humidity conditions needed to preserve the national collection cared for by the British Library. 

During the planning phase of the installation, the Virtu solar technology secured planning permission on the Grade I-listed building as its unique low-profile design does not disrupt the Library’s architecture and is not visible from street level.

With a height of just 26.5cm height, the technology is compatible with both flat and pitched roofs, and can also be used on vertical façades.

Investing in innovation

E.ON first began its relationship with the Crawley-based company back in 2023 and recently led a second funding round to help the company with global expansion plans.

That involvement was initiated by E.ON Group Innovation through its global accelerator programme Free Electrons. Our Energy Infrastructure Solutions business offers Virtu products to commercial and industrial customers through a heat-as-a-service model. The two companies are already working on a pipeline of projects across multiple territories.

As a playmaker in the energy transition, we use worldwide innovation programmes like Free Electrons to find, test and scale new technology solutions to drive forward new technologies and solutions.