In 1994, an opportunity arose to augment the expanding research activities in photovoltaic at the University of Southampton with a large-scale test in building integrated photovoltaic technology. Building 2 on the University's Highfield Campus was earmarked for renovation both internally and externally. The University welcomed the opportunity to combine the refurbishment of the facades with the installation of the PV cladding. This, at the time, had the added advantage of combining University requirements with the aim of the UK photovoltaic community to have an installation and an exemplar PV system for test and development on the south coast of England. The data collected from such an installation will be used to address the paucity of information concerning the use and implementation of PV technology. The work on the installation is described in the paper, giving step-by-step explanations of processes undertaken and problems encountered from initial design brief to final 'switch on' of the PV facade. The difficulties encountered during both the design, contracting and installation phases of the project are detailed. The aim of this paper is to highlight the success of the project and to outline some of the difficulties encountered so that other similar projects will hopefully be able to avoid such pitfalls. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.