Cologne-Bonn Airport in Germany has launched a pilot photovoltaic installation. The system consists of 80 adhesive solar panels mounted on the 27-meter chimney of the airport's co-generation plant.
The new installation has a collector area of about 70 m². The modules are positioned south-facing on the domed surface of the chimney.
The pilot system generates up to 4,400 kWh per year, roughly equal to the annual consumption of a household. Developed by German manufacturer Heliatek, the panels use a rear adhesive that eliminates the need for a substructure.
According to the HeliaSol 436-2000-CFF datasheet, each panel has an efficiency of 7.2% to 8.0% and a power output of 50 W to 55 W.
The system’s total output is about 4 kW across 80 panels. Each panel is 1.8 mm thick, or 18.5 mm including the junction box, and weighs 1.6 kg, less than 2 kg/m².
The panels are designed for roofs, facades, and other surfaces that cannot support conventional photovoltaic systems due to structural limits.
“Here we are testing a new, environmentally friendly product that can complement our existing rooftop photovoltaic installations,” said Thilo Schmid, chairman of the board of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH.
In addition to expanding photovoltaic capacity, the airport is developing emission-free heating and cooling through ice banks combined with photovoltaic systems and heat pumps. It has also invested in an electrical substation and is building a wood-pellet power plant.
In Spain, renewable energy company Acciona integrated flexible Heliatek modules with wind towers. The panels were installed on a turbine at the Breña wind farm in Albacete to supply power for auxiliary systems.
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