Solar tech company Naked Energy is installing the UK’s largest solar heat project across 712.5m2 of roof space on the Grade I listed building.

The installation is expected to reduce the building’s CO2 emissions by 55 tonnes and generate 216MWh of energy annually – the equivalent of powering and heating a community centre or swimming pool for a year.

Naked Energy’s technology combines solar photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) technology to generate both electricity and heat from a single collector.

These solar PVT collectors, called VirtuPVT, which Naked Energy says are the highest energy density solar technology in the world, can deliver a peak efficiency of 80%, converting 20% of the sun’s energy to electricity and 60% to heat.

Being modular in design, these collectors can easily be installed on the roofs of commercial and industrial buildings.

The installation on the roof of the British Library comprises 950 solar collectors.

The technology will supply sanitary hot water and space heating...