Belnor Engineering Inc (BEI) is a Toronto-based engineering firm that offers HVAC, lab & building automation, and renewable energy (RE) products, solutions, and services to all major universities, hospitals, and research institutions. Belnor Engineering is proud to announce the launch of our latest innovative renewable energy solution, Onyx Solar, offering transparent and colourful photovoltaic glass, the only building material in the global market which pays off.
With the addition of Onyx Solar to our product range, we are at the forefront of the sustainability landscape, offering the most sustainable construction materials for your next construction project, whether novel or retrofit! Having sustainable yet functional construction materials is also integral to any LEED-certified building. From Avila, Spain, Onyx Solar BIPV 100% customizable glass solutions available in North America exclusively through Belnor Engineering are available in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes, and transparencies, and can be installed at various orientations and tilts to suit your project's needs – whether a new or existing building – allowing freedom in architectural design without compromising on aesthetic elements.
Onyx Solar crystalline silicon and thin-film PV glass can be integrated in different parts of the building replacing conventional glass (curtain wall, ventilated façade, canopies, skylights, floor, etc.) to produce clean electricity from sunlight. From incorporating your company's corporate colours to having the option of adding your company logo, your Onyx Solar application can be 100% customized to reflect your organization's brand and culture. From designing photovoltaic floors, to pixelated building facades, to colourful skylights, leading construction companies and architectural firms have chosen Onyx Solar PV glass for theirprojects for acclaimed final customers such as Apple Inc, Samsung, Novartis, and Pfizer.
For example, a 175 sqm retrofit skylight, based on photovoltaic insulated glazing units, has been installed at the Bejar Traditional Market, located in Bejar city center (Salamanca, Spain). Fully integrated in the building, this skylight is able to generate 8,763 kWh/year while saving 2.95 tons of CO2/year. Moreover, the combination of colored glass with transparent units exhibits an impressive colourful and modern aesthetic result inspired by paintings of the Dutch painter, Mondriaan. World-class academic research institutions like the new Pfizer-University of Granada-Junta de Andalucía Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO) in Granada, Spain has incoroprated Onyx Solar's photovoltaic glass units in various colours and transparencies to create a pixelated facade, embodying the institution's vision for excellence in innovation. Apple's new store in San Francisco has incorporated Onyx Solar's BIPV walkable floor technology in a rooftop walkway, comprised of 130 BIPV glass modules measuring 4.5m2 with a peak power capacity of 487Wp per unit, generating over 90,000kWh of power each year. Using this same walkable floor solar technology, George Washington University installed the world's first solar walkway and sidewalk on the Virginia Science & Technology Campus, measuring at 100 square-feet.
Onyx Solar's innovatively designed BIPV glass solar solutions featuring active and passive properties are easily integratable into any structure and provide multifunctional bioclimatic properties that will help dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, filter our harmful UV & IR radiation, and provide both thermal and acoustic insulation while providing breath-taking natural illumination, shrinking your carbon footprint, and most importantly, generating clean, free, solar power-based renewable energy.
The combination of these active and passive properties not only improve the building's envelope, but also improve internal comfort while significantly reducing energy demand and subsequent HVAC costs. Green building could not have been so innovative, flexible, convenient, and customizable! Your projects could benefit from the energy savings and the clean energy produced byOnyx Solar PV glass for a low investment with a payback period as low as a few months.
With the currently developing Canadian and American Federal and Provincial/In-State regulations relating to climate change, this technology provides solutions that can help meet the goals of these important international initiatives.
