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3,648 multi-crystalline modules, produces
300 kW of power – enough to generate all
the energy required by Galaxia’s tenants.
The confluence of the ESA ground sta-
tion, the satellite, and the sea of PV mod-
ules is akin to watching a family reunion:
after all, one of the earliest applications of
PV panels was in outer space, where they
were used to power satellites. For most visi-
tors to Galaxia, this abstract reunion won’t
be the first thing they notice. Rather, the
building’s architecture and design are like-
ly to be the focus.
For some, standing inside the forest of
metal poles – which help to support the
weight of the PV roof – configured as they
are in stark right angles, could give the im-
pression of being inside a cage, although one
that would be easy to slip out of. From the
outside looking up at the recurring peaked
roof of glass and PV modules, it looks some-
thing like a futuristic greenhouse.
As new as this structure may appear,
that notion is misleading. For one thing,
even though the center was officially »in-
augurated« on June 25th, the core of the
structure has existed for decades. In fact,
the mass of metal, glass and PV are simply
a covering – or an envelope, as Philippe
Samyn of Brussels-based engineering and
architecture firm Samyn and Partners,
Galaxia’s designers, calls it – sheathing
squat, block-like wooden structures that
were used for educational purposes at the
nearby Euro Space Center, The Euro Space
Center is organizationally separate from
the ESA facility next door.
The idea for creating Galaxia as a home
for high-tech, space-oriented businesses
came from Idelux, the publicly funded
development agency that seeks to lure
businesses and create jobs in the province
of Luxembourg, a rural area of southeast
Belgium. Fabian Collard, the director of
Idelux, knew that proximity to the ESA
ground station, which will be responsible
for controlling the Galileo satellites, would
attract plenty of high-tech businesses.
But when Collard approached ESA of-
ficials about possibly sharing facilities, he
The old, basic structure of the building: the wooden construc-
tion inside the new shell has stood for decades
November 2009 81
»
encountered a problem. »For security rea-
sons, it was not possible for all companies
to stay inside of the ESA ground station,«
he says. Collard decided to create some-
thing outside of the station but directly
linked (via a fiber optic connection).
That something, of course, was the
Galaxia Business Park. And from the very
beginning, Collard says, the idea of incor-
porating PV into the building design was
attractive. »We were thinking: a satellite in
space uses the energy from the sun, so why
don’t we do the same thing?«
One obvious reason not to do so was
cost. Fortunately for Idelux, they were able
to take advantage of a package of national
and regional incentives, including green
certificates, which are similar to feed-in tar-
iffs, and worth EUR 0.30 ($0.44) per kWh
for this project; they also received subsidies
from the Wallonoia area where Galaxia is
located, as well as tax rebates and grants. In
total, Collard says the incentives accounted
for 90 percent of the cost of the PV panels.
»If it was not possible for us to receive the
subsidies, we would not do it,« he says.
For Philippe Samyn, designing a build-
ing with PV and other sustainable charac-
teristics is something he’d been prepared
to do for decades, ever since getting his
masters degree in civil engineering from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy (MIT) in 1971. »When I went back [to
Europe] from MIT in 1972, I was perfectly
skilled to make designs answering to the
environment,« he says. »But the clients
were not there, nobody cared.«
Even if they did care, the cost of PV and
other so-called green building elements
was prohibitive, he says. »It’s nice to talk
[about] at cocktail parties, but it’s anoth-
er thing to put the money on the table,«
he says. But with Idelux getting so much
public assistance for Galaxia, cost was not
an issue, leaving Samyn free not only to
suggest the use of PV, but to also come up
with a design he felt was appropriate for the
site. This included how to incorporate the
existing wood buildings – which Samyn
bemoans had the charm of a supermarket
– and to also find ways to mitigate the noise
and pollution from the nearby E 411 high-
way leading from Brussels to Luxemburg.