HSBC Global Headquarters, London

HSBC has an international network that comprises of over 10,000 offices in 83 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.

As part of its $99 million 5 year Global Environmental Efficiency Programme (GEEP), HSBC has installed 422 Sharp solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of its iconic global headquarters in Canary Wharf, London.

As the world’s first carbon neutral bank, HSBC is committed to its investment in renewable energy and has installed solar PV panels on many of its buildings across the globe, including its Bricket Wood Global Management Training Centre in the UK, the Leeds First Direct building, HSBC Exeter, HSBC Bristol, Malta, the zero carbon branch in Greece, New York and the Global Technology Centre in India.

HSBC made the decision to install 617m² of solar PV panels on its Canary Wharf headquarters not only to increase the overall energy efficiency of the building, but as an investment in low carbon technologies and as a way of showcasing this type of technology to the rest of the HSBC group, its clients and customers around the world.

Matthew Robinson, Footprint Manager of Group Corporate Sustainability at HSBC, comments: “We truly value our investment in renewable energy at HSBC and at 210m, the solar PV installation at our global headquarters in Canary Wharf is the highest corporate installation of its kind in Europe and an incredible feat of engineering. The panels will generate 1,550,000 kilowatt hours of green electricity over the building’s lease”

The solar PV panels, were manufactured at Sharp’s UK factory based in Wrexham, Wales, and are expected to contribute to overall savings of a further three per cent of the famous building’s total energy consumption over the next two years.

With over 40 years of solar PV panel manufacturing experience and over 100,000 of its systems providing solar power in countries around the globe, Sharp was the natural choice of supplier for HSBC. The bank’s commitment to a low carbon economy and investment in solar energy and other forms of renewable energy is closely aligned to Sharp’s own mission to satisfy 25% of worldwide energy demand with solar PV by 2040. Andrew Lee, General Manager of Solar at Sharp UK, discusses HSBC’s implementation: “HSBC is demonstrating a real commitment to its environmental efficiency programme by installing solar PV on its Canary Wharf headquarters and other real estate around the world. The installation of solar PV panels at such a large corporate building and some of the bank’s small branches should encourage companies of all sizes to follow suit and reduce their carbon footprints. We believe that large global businesses have a responsibility to lead by example when it comes to considering their impact on the environment – and this is exactly what HSBC is doing with this installation. Hopefully it will encourage businesses of all sizes to adopt similar practices.”

Robinson continues; “Our commitment to renewable energy will see us roll out solar PV installations at other buildings both in the UK and across the Group in the near future. We are also interested in trialling innovative thin film technologies once they become available.”

Installer: Solar Technologies
Manufacturer: Sharp Manufacturing Company of UK

Project summary:
Date commissioned: 03/06/2008
Forecast kWh generation/year: 64,500
Technology: Solar PV
Panel area (m²): 617.00
Installation Type: Flat roof
Building integrated: No
System size (kWp) 75.96
Forecast CO₂ saving/year(kg): 27,735