NEW ELECTRICITY CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FOR ROOFS AND FACADES

At present 1.7 MWp roofs and facades have been installed world wide us ing the Atlantis photovoltaic (PV) construction materials. These examp les have contributed to the general acceptance of PV in the build envi ronment particularly among architects. A new milestone for the generat ion of solar electricity was set with the novel SUNSLATES(TM) roofing and facade system, which was introduced into the market in summer 1997 [1]. The combination of improved aesthetic design - the SUNSLATES(TM) can hardly be distinguished from ordinary shingles of slate roofs - a nd dramatic cost savings are the most important features. These result from virtually eliminating support structures, installation and engin eering costs in addition to mass production of standardized elements. The flexibility of SUNSLATES(TM) to fit conventional roof designs of v arious shapes opens the door to its wide spread application. Even roof s of circular and rhomboid like shape have been realized. Further the SUNSLATES(TM) have been combined with different types of roofing mater ials. During the past months SUNSLATES(TM) systems have been installed in different countries such as Switzerland, Germany and the USA. A fi rst Japanese project has been realized on the: occasion of the Kyoto C onference in December 1997 near Osaka. In Sacramento, California, Atla ntis Energy LTD has been selected to install more than 1000 roofs with SUNSLATES(TM) as a part of the SMUD initiative. Fig. 1 shows a roof i ntegration of SUNSLATES(TM) in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Even in Swit zerland with a population of only seven million inhabitants, about 10- 14 km(2) of roofs and facades are built or refinished every year. The estimated market for SUNSLATES(TM) on these roofs and facades is in th e order of 2 mill, m2/year, which would represent an installed capacit y of 200 MW/y. Neither technical nor aesthetical obstacles remain agai nst building up a gigantic world wide market for PV roofing systems. ( C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.