ESOPP

After public bike-sharing and the International Sustainable Campus Award, EPFL keeps evolving towards sustainable development with the new ESOPP project (Epfl SOlar Power Plant) in partnership with Romande Energie for the construction on campus of the largest photovoltaic power plant in Switzerland.

A characteristic feature of EPFL's architecture is its flat roofs, making it an ideal location for solar panels. In addition, the roofs that cover the parking areas and the footpaths extend the available surface.

The ESOPP project plans a power plant with a total surface of 20,000m² and a power of 2MW, representing approximately 3% of EPFL's needs in electricity and hoisting the school to the first place in Switzerland (the largest photovoltaic power plant today being the Swiss stadium's one in Bern, with 1.3MW power). In addition, beyond its purely productive aspect, the construction of such a power plant will enable the school to develop a tremendous research, demonstration and training laboratory, likely to improve our experience in renewable energies.

Acronym

The name ESOPP is derived from the well-known Greek writer Aesop (7^th century BC – 6^th century BC), in particular thanks to one of his famous fables "The bundle of sticks".

The fable:

"A ploughman, angry to see discord among his children, and the little store they set by his reprimands, ordered his servants to bring a faggot of sticks and told his children to break the faggot. One after the other, each tried to break the bundle. They strained and strained, but their efforts were in vain. He then told them to untie the faggot and to break the sticks separately, which they did easily. And so he said: 'See, children, that you could not break those sticks when they were bundled together; thus you will not be easily vanquished by your enemies if you always remain united and in good understanding. However, if enmity divides you, if division comes amongst you, it will not be difficult for your enemies to ruin you'".

The moral of the fable is of course "strength through unity": the faggot of sticks bound together will never break. This moral is thus particularly well suited to a project such as ESOPP, one that requires the contribution of many partners, each bringing his own skills. The successful achievement of the project will depend on the cooperation, or rather the union, between these partners.