Apart from SEAC and TU/e, Smart Energy Regions Brabant and ODZOB are also involved in SolarBEAT. At the Department of Built Environment, the go-to person for the project is prof.dr.ir. Jan Hensen. He believes Vertigo’s low-rise is especially suitable for a solar technology test area. “The labs for building physics and installation are right beneath us, so it will be fairly simple to connect our measuring equipment with those labs.” The visibility of the location is another advantage, according to Hensen.
 
Not only will the department share its facilities, but it will also share its expertise in the fields of building physics and installation, says dr.ir. Roland Valckenborg of SEAC, a partnership between TNO, ECN, and Holland Solar. The idea is to put several dummy buildings on the roof of Vertigo. “They’re really a sort of typically Dutch attic.” The dummies will be fitted with experimental roofs featuring integrated solar cells (for electricity) or solar collectors (for heating). The institutions will also be researching the generation of solar power on flat roofs and facades.
 
Currently, parties are calculating to what extent the roof of Vertigo must be reinforced to carry the test facility constructions.