The new Mataró-Barcelona public library provides an excellent example of an integrated curtain wall solar facade. The library has a total installed capacity of 53kW of solar power. Some 240m2 of semi-transparent polycrystalline solar photovoltaics have been deployed as a curtain wall. By using a semi-transparent solar facade natural daylight passes into the building and occupiers and users of the building are able to see through the solar facade to the outside. A further 400m2 of crystalline silicon solar photovoltaics have been integrated into the roof of the library.

The building will be connected to the local grid of the Spanish utility ENIIER. A further innovation has been the integration of solar thermal design into the facade. Air passes behind the solar facade where it is heated and can then flow back into the building and will contribute to the heating demand of the library. This solar-thermal system also acts to cool the photovoltaic facade; thus maximising the electricity production of the solar cells.