Integrating PV into Clay Roofing

[Dover]

Solé Power Tile:
Integrating PV into Clay Roofing

The Solé Power Tile is a building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system made to match the curved profile of U.S. Tile’s Mission-style clay roofing tiles. The Solé tiles use Uni-Solar’s triple-junction, amorphous-silicon, thin-film photovoltaic (PV) material. Developed and manufactured by SRS Energy in partnership with U.S. Tile, Solé Power Tiles do not require a mounting rack or any penetrations through the tiles, giving the roof a “seamless” look. The Solé tiles are blue, however, so they do stand out against earth-tone clay tiles...

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2010/10/29/Sole-Power-Tile-Integrating-PV-into-Clay-Roofing/?utm_source=BuildingGreen.com+Bulletin&utm_campaign=2e40174c47-BGS_Newsletter_NM_Nov_EBN_11_1_2010&utm_medium=email

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Sole Power Tile website:
http://www.ustile.com/Pages.aspx/Sol-Power-Tile

[WhiteTara]

1. that's a great innovation

I hope it goes far!

[ecdfan]

7. SRS Energy uses 1970s technology!

SRS Energy's tiles use Unisolar's photovoltaic material, which is a 1970s technology. It is outdated, inefficient, degrading, underperforming, and yes, even igniting (!) material.

Here is how the material looks like after just two years under the Sun:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fan.of.ecd/FloridaInternationalUniversitySolarInDistress

[WhiteTara]

12. still a great concept, sorry it's such

crappy follow through.

[TheMadMonk]

13. Not sure of the point with the final pic. Looks like deliberate vandalism.

That's laminated glass and I can see a single point of impact just to the right of the upper-right mounting where it appears have been struck from above, more or less perpundicular to the surface, which likely rules out a stone flung up from the road.

As for the rest, it looks like a mixture of crap gluing and laying the product on a hot (thermally expanded) roof. Shadows and lighting suggest that the glue would have cured when the roof was at it's hottest and the later photos appear to have been taken much earlier in the day with more overcast.

The water streaks down the face of the building stronly suggests that the guttering installers were of a similar caliber to the solar installers.

You might also want to look at the capping around the edges of the building. See that rodent nibbling effect (like a fancy wedding invitation), it looks a lot like either salt weathering, or corrosion caused by an electrical current. So add either poor(/cheap) roofing materials for it to happen that quickly, or a fault in the electrical instalation to the mix.

The addition of air con, after the fact, points to even more poor planning.

Judging by the multiple construction faults I can see, my bet is that too much of the budget went on the solar materials and to make up the shortfall, a lot of corners got cut putting the building underneath.

[txlibdem]

2. How much does it cost per watt?

There are several companies making solar roofing tiles and other BIPV products. The only thing that stops them from catching on it that they want too damn much for them. Who cares if your company has a whiz-bang gadget if nobody can afford it? Or if your nifty-spiffy product is far more expensive than the other products in the segment.

How much does it cost???

[ecdfan]

6. The SRS Energy solar tiles are a RIP-OFF!

txlibdem: The solar "tiles" cost $13.47 per Watt ($27,238 for a 2.0224KW system) - at least that's what SRS Energy's customer told the California Solar Initiative to get money from the taxpayer. That tiny 2KW installation required 128 (!) of these tiles - not surprising, given that SRS Energy's product is one of the least efficient on the market.

Do not forget: these tiles are made of plastic - they overheat, underperform, and degrade!

Compare to regular solar panels, which can be put for $5 (or less) per Watt all in, and require just 1/3 of the roof space for the same amount of sun-generated electricity.

[txlibdem]

11. That's what I thought

These idiots who think that just because they come out with a prettier solar installation they're going to get customers. Yeah, rich morons with tons and tons of cash to throw around who ALSO care about the environment. How many of those are there?

To be fair, it you're building a new structure, or redoing the roof on your existing home anyway then the all-in cost should be compared on a fair basis: putting in your regular roofing product then paying $5 per watt to install solar PV on said roof. That is the only way to make sense out of these products. Yet it seems impossible to get a straight answer out of them

I've emailed and written letters to several of these manufacturers and have yet to receive an actual response. They want to hide the cost until the last minute perhaps...

But since they're thin film products they should cost very little to add onto common roofing products.

[kestrel91316]

3. Tile roofs in Japan are a lovely blue

[felix_numinous]

4. K&R

[jberryhill]

5. The weekly solar roof tile post

I've enjoyed the solar roof tile press releases since the circa 1980's Kyocera ones.

Still haven't seen one on a building in thirty years of hearing about them.

[ecdfan]

9. Solar roof tiles make no economic sense

jberryhill: You are right. Solar roof tiles' share of the PV rooftop market is 1/10 of a percent, despite being "commercial" for over 10 years. For one obvious reason - they are to expensive compared to regular rooftop PV, and they are stil quite "visible." Oh, and they tend to lose their UL certifications. For example, Unisolar's solar "shingle" lost its UL certification and became illegal to sell in the United States a few years back.

[jberryhill]

10. Stan, is that you? /nt

[ecdfan]

8. Solé Power Tile: DISINTEGRATING PV

Dover: SRS Energy told us that their factory was supposed to be completed last month, yet, as of today, they are nowhere near ready to start production, right? Can you explain that delay?

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20100606_Phila__solar_roofing_firm_looks_to_new_leader_for_its_big_break.html

Of course, SRS Energy initially said that they planned a nationwide roll-out for last Spring ( http://springwise.com/eco_sustainability/solepowertile/ ), which turned out to be another of their lies.

SRS Energy's product is a plastic disaster colored in atrocious blue. So much for the "seamless" look.