I can’t remember exactly who I was talking to years ago (was it you, Mike D?) about turning roofs into full solar panels? This seems like the most practical model yet as you can blanket the whole roof and capture every angle. Perfect option if you have Spanish/Mediterranean style home! The Sole Power Tile is the first curved photovoltaic roofing product and can be used as a full solar panel roof or woven into sections of traditional terra-cotta titles. The cost is about $50/sq ft installed… if you are interested in finding out more about this solar roofing system check out the SRS Energy website. Just don’t forget to add a TED 5000 to monitor your power savings!
[Originally seen in Popular Science Magazine]
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1 2 Next »Well, you should be happy to know that no tile on the picture you show can generate any electricity! The picture is fake - the actual building has regular red clay tiles, but the picture has been digitally altered in some image-editing software using copy and paste. So you are the latest victim of SRS Energy's marketing scam (and yes, even Popular Science fell for it).
Blanketing the whole roof with solar cells is a bad idea anyway. First, most of the cells won't be facing the sun at optimal angles, thus the energy generation per rated Watt for such a system would be suboptimal (essentially, a waste of PV material). Second, the likely lack of ventilation will hurt performance further due to overheating. Third, maintenance/repairs would be a nightmare.
$50 per sq ft for SRS Energy's tiles is equivalent to $10 per Watt (the tiles are about 5%-efficient under STC). For comparison, 15%-efficient quality crystalline PV panels sell for less than $2 per Watt today (at the factory gate). And the panels are indeed eligible for incentives today, while the SRS Energy's tiles are not (not on the SB1 list in CA). Do you now understand why the market for these solar tiles will be basically non-existent?
And are the SRS Energy's tiles even UL-listed? Since they are made of plastic, are they fire resistant? Can they survive the summer heat and UV radiation? And what is the long-term degradation of the thin-film PV material they use?
Well, you should be happy to know that no tile on the picture you show can generate any electricity! The picture is fake - the actual building has regular red clay tiles, but the picture has been digitally altered in some image-editing software using copy and paste. So you are the latest victim of SRS Energy's marketing scam (and yes, even Popular Science fell for it).
Blanketing the whole roof with solar cells is a bad idea anyway. First, most of the cells won't be facing the sun at optimal angles, thus the energy generation per rated Watt for such a system would be suboptimal (essentially, a waste of PV material). Second, the likely lack of ventilation will hurt performance further due to overheating. Third, maintenance/repairs would be a nightmare.
$50 per sq ft for SRS Energy's tiles is equivalent to $10 per Watt (the tiles are about 5%-efficient under STC). For comparison, 15%-efficient quality crystalline PV panels sell for less than $2 per Watt today (at the factory gate). And the panels are indeed eligible for incentives today, while the SRS Energy's tiles are not (not on the SB1 list in CA). Do you now understand why the market for these solar tiles will be basically non-existent?
And are the SRS Energy's tiles even UL-listed? Since they are made of plastic, are they fire resistant? Can they survive the summer heat and UV radiation? And what is the long-term degradation of the thin-film PV material they use?
If it isn't fake it'll be very very popular here, on Cyprus, where many many sunny days.
If it isn't fake it'll be very very popular here, on Cyprus, where many many sunny days.
My parents just had their home converted to solar…it is impressive.
nice post…thanks for the share…i will keep watching for your next post…thanks….
Worth it At $50 dollars a sq ft.. What is the power output? Great concept....
We've been using these roofing systems for a while now. Its effecient and actually easier to sell once the homeowner is educated about the benefits
This is the best approach in integrating solar with real traditional barrel tile. The solar technology is thin film from Unisolar with Miami Dade County Approval and UL certification.
http://www.artezanos.com/tile_integrated_photovoltaic.html
Dan
I hope that you will continue sharing your knowledge with us.