Farmhouse Modern

The decision to use photovoltaic cells (PV) on a residential roof may be stifled because the things are too often just plain ugly. I read about “building integrated” pv, but when I look at the images, they still look like a science project sitting on the roof (or worse yet on the lawn).

I just had a solar company visit my house to get an estimate on installing PV on my roof. I live in a very sunny part of the country (Lafayette, CA) and we have strong sunlight on the roof throughout most of the summer. Unfortunately, the estimator’s conclusion was the because there are trees blocking some of the southern exposure, PV would not work.

His experience suggested that if the panels cannot be angled just right, and if there are any trees in the way, PV was not yet a good option.

There are two problems facing solar (for me).

1. Solar panels look like solar panels. The all have shiny, dark blue or black, flecked surfaces with clearly visible light-colored metal grids surrounding each individual cell.

2. Solar panels need unfiltered, direct sunlight to generate significant electricity.

It seems like this should be solvable. In July, 2007, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) announced in a paper that they developed:

… an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. “The process is simple,” said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT’s Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. “Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations.”

By removing the light-colored borders ad allowing user-designated sizes, solar panels might be hidden in the valleys of standing-seem roof. In fact, builders are already beginning to do this. Take a look at Thin-Film Photovoltaic Roofing.

The next step is to allow custom colors that more closely match the roof color. This seems to still be cutting-edge. I did find one company, Konarka, that manufactures strips in a variety of colors. They even show a drawing on their site of a camouflage-painted quonset hut designed for the military.

Please send me a comment if you know of other installations or manufacturers where the aesthetics / performance issue has been addressed.

*** Resources from readers:

- Solar City: Electric Roof Tile
- Dawn Solar

Image Gallery from Atlantis Energy Systems: