Solar power panel stickers
Well, not necessarily stickers like your kids deface your home with, but large solar panels perfect for flat-roofing applications. The Lumeta Power-ply 380 by DRI companies has released such a sticker, and quite a bit one at that.
Oh, and the kicker, they’re installed in less time than you take for your lunch hour.
- From Wired,
While the panels are lighter and easier to install than traditional tilt-it systems, the downside is that by sticking flat on the roof, they lose the optimal angle to the sun. Torres says that costs his company’s panels about five percent of their power production. As is, the panels claim peak power generation of 380 watts (pdf) in a “typical installation.”
Their promotional video also shows two installers putting together a six-panel grid in 34 minutes. They place the solar mat, plug in and ta-da! The panels have a low-profile slope to prevent pooling of rainwater.
No word on pricing yet, but with the current push of solar power technology, it seems only natural that the prices, will also follow suit and come down in time. Those guys in the video set down a grid of 6 panels that seemed to plug in without any trouble. Perhaps, with the easy connectivity, you may be able to get a starter pack of a few panels, then later on buy additional panels. That might bring solar power within reach to many.
Of course, most of us don’t have flat roofs, but perhaps in the future they’ll develop products which fit in seamlessly with the standard asphalt shingle roof. Yeah, of course you still have several black rectangles on your roof, but it’s still an improvement of the current generation of blocky panels elevated off your roof by some sort of erector set.
(From Wired)








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