US MISSION GENEVA ANNOUNCES GREEN ENERGY PROJECT
Will be First US Diplomatic Post
with Building-Integrated Solar Power System

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva is set to become the first United States diplomatic building with a fully-integrated solar electric system. Over the coming months, the U.S. Mission façade and roof will be fitted with attractive photovoltaic panels that will produce sustainable green electric power.

The project is the result of a unique Swiss and American public-private sector partnership initiated by Ambassador Kevin E. Moley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva. The partnership brings together the U.S. Mission, Geneva’s Service Cantonal de l’Energie (ScanE) and the Services Industriels de Genève. (SIG). Construction is set to begin in mid-summer 2004 and the green energy system should be operational this year.

“Promoting the expanded use of solar and other renewable energy sources is a key element of President Bush’s national energy policy,” said Ambassador Moley. “This project provides a concrete illustration of our commitment to energy conservation and highlights Swiss-American cooperation in this area.”

Charles E. Williams, Director and Chief Operating Officer of the State Department’s Overseas Buildings Operations Office (OBO), describes the project at the U.S. Mission in Geneva as OBO’s “flagship green project for 2004.”

“There is no better place to showcase U.S. technologies and to demonstrate international cooperation on green energy than in Geneva, a highly visible diplomatic center and the site of hundreds of international meetings each year.”

Photovoltaics (PV) use solar cells made of silicon to absorb sunlight and convert it directly into electricity that can be used for a building’s power systems.
In this case, the power generated by the system will provide power for the Mission and be fed into Geneva’s electric power grid.

The Canton of Geneva has set political goals for the promotion of renewables -- in particular for photovoltaics -- which are to cover a significant part of Geneva’s electricity consumption by 2020. Geneva’s cantonal energy office ScanE is responsible for achieving this goal, using as the main instrument a high feed-in tariff for renewables. It operates in close cooperation with the power utility SIG, which promotes solar electricity through an ambitious green-power marketing program and offers a cost-covering feed-in tariff for solar power produced and fed into the grid.

The Geneva project is the first significant building-integrated photovoltaic project (BIPV) ever implemented at a U.S. diplomatic post. This project will put the U.S. Mission at the cutting edge in an effort to make U.S. Embassies worldwide greener and more self-sufficient. OBO Engineer Mike Christensen says "in the future, photovoltaic technologies can prove particularly useful at embassies in regions of the world where sun is plentiful and power reliability is low."

Project Architect Ronald J. Tomasso noted that the project will enhance the external appearance of the U.S. Mission building. The attractive crystalline blue arrays used to harvest energy from the sun will be mounted on the façade running above each row of windows and on the roof of the building. The photovoltaic panels used for the project are produced by American companies, but bidding on the construction project has been opened to contractors from other countries and will be awarded to the lowest bidding responsible and responsive contractor.

On a sunny day the system at the U.S. Mission will deliver a peakpower of up to 118 kiloWatts and provide enough energy on a yearly basis to power 37 average households. In addition, since the panels will reduce heat gain in the building, they will also reduce air conditioning requirements thereby lowering electric energy consumption.