BRINGING new energy to downtown Bratislava, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) opened a solar energy station at its Bratislava Regional Centre in November 2009. The solar station is the first in the city's Staré Mesto, or old town, and one of three solar stations in the Slovak capital. It is also one of the first United Nations buildings to install solar panels on its roof, the UNDP’s Bratislava Regional Centre informed The Slovak Spectator.
Consisting of 170 photovoltaic solar panels on the flat roof of the centre's building on Grosslingova Street, the project is designed to both reduce the centre’s carbon footprint and to provide a model for other organisations to follow. The solar installation, connected directly to the utility grid, is expected to generate 10,700 kilowatt-hours of usable electricity annually. The annual energy savings are equivalent to 11 average households in Slovakia (approximately 1,000 kilowatt-hours by one household).
The €50,000 solar station is expected to pay for itself within 11 years.
