The original purpose of a silo was to stock coal needed for heating the entire area. Therefore, the building became a symbol for the transition from fossil fuels to renewables for the whole area, thanks to BIPV that can be seen by visitors to the site. In the past, architects had to convince people to choose BIPV, but today this is changing. Some good examples of integrated BIPV in façades are needed to create a picture of the possibilities in people's heads. In this building, the glass of the coloured BIPV modules was designed not to reflect solar light so that there would be no glare effects. The design team received positive feedback regarding the aesthetics of the building and the modules. Some people wondered what kind of material were used on the façades, they don't recognise it as PV! (Arch. Kerstin Müller, Baubüro in situ AG)

Solar Silo has a long history, related to Gundeldinger Feld. Indeed, the whole area has been renovated and transformed into a multipurpose district adopting the sustainability concept in a wide and holistic perspective, ranging from energy to cultural aspects. It is worth considering that re-building the whole area would have meant a lot of embodied energy, so they tried to find a balance, including economically, for the entire area. Therefore, step by step, the entire site has been renovated, using thermal insulation, good energy-performance glazing, while also considering water recycling. (Mr Thierry Bosshart, iRIX Software Engineering AG) For instance, it was decided to reuse some existing materials (e.g., cladding for the external elevator and the kitchen) and to integrate solar energy sources into the existing building envelope (Arch. Kerstin Müller, Baubüro in situ AG).

As an R&D project, this pilot BIPV building is offering the opportunity to continuously learn from the interplay of electricity production, consumption and storage. The installation of BIPV modules on the Solar Silo, indeed, has been equipped with many sensors, aimed at evaluating the real power output of each single module. This is allowing to record the performances of the differently coloured modules over time and compare their real electrical behaviour with the declared values.

For this R&D project there was not a predefined business case. Instead, all implemented renovation measures have been adopted step by step, considering also the economic aspect of sustainability. For instance, existing building materials have been reused to reduce both investment costs and environmental impact. This building project is promoted as a pilot project by the Office of Environment and Energy of the Canton of Basel City and the Federal Office for Energy and, specifically, the former supported this pilot project with a funding for coloured BIPV modules. This project was awarded with the Swiss Solar Prize 2015 in the "Renovation" category.

The collaboration with the building conservation department was significant considering the complexity in integrating the new BIPV elements in the specific context.

The transformation process in the area led to the creation of cultural, social, and commercial flows that positively impacted the neighbourhood.