Solar panels have been installed on the roof of Stockholm Palace. The installation took place on Thursday, 19 April with His Majesty looking on.
King Carl XVI Gustaf even got his hands dirty and helped as the panels were brought up to the roof alongside the Palace Director at Stockholm Palace and Head of Stockholm Palace Administration, Erik Kampmann. There were 600 panels received that will cover an area of one thousand square metres. According to the Royal Court, once it is “running, the State Property Agency expects an annual output of 170 MWh, which corresponds to at least twelve percent of the palace’s annual electricity consumption.”
Kampmann said the Royal Palace has the perfect roof for the solar panels, “Because the palace has a pulpit roof with flat slope, the solar panels will not be visible, either from the courtyard or from somewhere else.”
The King pictured receiving the panels with Erik Kampmann. Photo: Henrik Garlöv / Kungahuset.se
The 600 solar panels were a gift to His Majesty for his 70th birthday in 2016 from Statens Fastighetsverk. However, the idea came in 2010 with the Royal Court saying, “The idea of providing Stockholm Palace with solar panels has been around since 2010 when the State Property Agency (SFV), initiated by Kungl. Hovstaterna set up a test area on parts of the palace roof.”
King Carl XVI Gustaf is passionate about environmental issues, so it is no surprise that Statens Fastighetsverk chose this as a gift for this 70th birthday.
Installation is due to be completed by 1 June of this year after approximately six weeks of installation work. This will be completed before Sweden’s National Day celebrations on 6 June when the Royal Palace is officially open for visitors during the summer. It has not yet been announced which member of the Swedish Royal Family will have the honour of opening it for 2018. Prince Carl Philip was present for the opening in 2017.
