National Cycling Centre

Challenge

The National Cycling Centre is an iconic building originally in constructed in 1994 and is home to the British Cycling Team. Given the long span of the roof over the velodrome, it is unable to hold the extra weight of traditional solar panels.

The building has undergone an extensive amount of sustainable refurbishment like improving insulation, LED lighting and replacing gas boilers with air source heat pumps. As part of this process, Manchester City Council wanted to investigate the possibility of solar carports for the site.

This installation was part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and Manchester City Council.

This innovative scheme was part of the “Unlocking Clean Energy in Greater Manchester” project, led by Energy Systems Catapult, and includes a number of renewable energy schemes across Greater Manchester, all of which are part supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

MCC procured the project through an existing construction framework, Warden Construction were awarded the project as Main Contractor in September 2022. EvoEnergy worked closely with Warden and its advisors throughout 2022 to design the solar carports up to Stage 3 designs with many unique features including, asymmetric canopy roofs to maximise generation whilst resolving how drain pipes would reach the floor in a sensible fashion and water runoff.

As users of the carpark often have bicycles on roof racks, the carports were built with a 3.5m clearance height and prominent signage to prevent accidental damage to often high specification bicycles. MCC requested the frames be carbon grey, but roof sheets were kept pale grey to reflect light back onto the carpark deck.

Normally EvoEnergy would seek to locate solar inverters inside a building’s plant room so they are secure and easy to maintain, however due to the highly utilised velodrome, there was no space available internally, so a ventilated cage was installed with a secure fence around, again in black, to match the carport frames.

To improve monitoring visibility increase safety and reduce the impact of localised shading, a Solaredge Module Level Power Electronics system was used improving generation energy. Both downlighting and uplighting were installed to give a striking user experience at night.

CCTV was installed on the carport frames for security.

The project was completed in July 2023 with the carpark resurfaced and parking spaced re-marked out.

The project went on to win Electrical Project Of The Year at the electrical times awards.

Unlocking Clean Energy In Greater Manchester Project (UCEGM)

1. The UCEGM project is receiving up to £8,616,721 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/england-2014-to-2020-european-structural-and-investment-funds

2. The UCEGM project delivers and implements actions and priorities from the Local Industrial Strategy and the Greater Manchester 5-year Environment Plan, and it will contribute towards the 2024 goals set out within the Whole System Smart Energy Plan for Greater Manchester.

3. Northern Powerhouse – The Northern Powerhouse is a key aspect of this Government’s approach to addressing the productivity gap in the North and ensuring a stronger, more sustainable economy for all parts of the UK. Alongside over €1.5 billion of European Regional Development Fund support for businesses and communities across the North, the government has awarded £3.4 billion in three rounds of Growth Deals across the Northern Powerhouse.

4. Energy Systems Catapult was set up to accelerate the transformation of the UK’s energy system and ensure UK businesses and consumers capture the opportunities of clean growth.

The Catapult is an independent, not-for-profit centre of excellence that bridges the gap between industry, government, academia and research.

We take a whole system view of the energy sector, helping us to identify and address innovation priorities and market barriers, in order to decarbonise the energy system at the lowest cost