The SOS Children’s Village Dortmund offers a wide range of on-site interventions and services for children and families. The Children’s Village Centre on Kronprinzenstrasse has now taken a significant step towards sustainability and nature conservation. It has been producing a large proportion of its own electricity since the beginning of August, using an existing combined heat and power plant and a new solar system on the daycare centre’s green roof that measures almost 110 square metres. This was made possible by a donation from the German Postcode Lottery, which supported the construction of the photovoltaic system through a donation of around 40,000 euros.

The system consists of 56 bifacial double-glazed modules. A total output of almost 25 kWp was installed without penetrating the green roof. The result is also exploited didactically, as the solar system yields and the resulting savings in electricity consumption and CO2 emissions are visualised for educational purposes on a Solarfox display in the foyer of the daycare centre.

The project was realised by EGU Elektrogrosshandels Union Rhein-Ruhr and its partner Ebner Elektrotechnik. They opted for the Schweizer solution for the substructure of the green roof system. The system can be used flexibly on “grown” green roofs and is characterised by its low dead weight and superlative material quality and durability. It is installed without penetrating the roof and allows maximum flexibility when it comes to alignment and arrangement.