Proof of Concept : Universal Photovoltaic Solar Roof Tile

该项目旨在开发一种通用的太阳能屋顶瓦，可以安装在任何屋顶上的任何屋顶瓦。现有的太阳能屋顶瓦在应用上受到限制，因为它只与市场上广泛的屋顶瓦的一个子集兼容。通用性要求在光伏瓦和屋顶的其余部分之间开发一套坚固且具有成本效益的接口，包括脊、边缘、水槽和各种几何形状。我们有机会创造出相当于威卢克斯（Velux）窗户的太阳能产品——在应用上是通用的，与传统解决方案相比具有成本竞争力，而且美观。从根本上说，它应该具有屋顶的防风雨功能，但也要发电。今天的大部分光伏产品使用有限的材料-特别是铝和玻璃-来创建物理包装。这一概念验证将探索更广泛的材料和制造工艺，作为降低系统非“PVcell”元素潜在成本的途径。这些调查和设计应该使持续的成本降低成为可能（参见附加的GTM图）。太阳能电池成本持续下降，因此光伏系统的最终安装成本中与安装结构和安装成本相关的部分变得越来越重要。通用太阳能屋顶瓦片将通过利用现有的建筑技术（即屋顶工人）来帮助降低光伏的安装成本，并通过使用建筑物本身作为支撑来消除对昂贵的支撑结构的需求。降低通用光伏产品的总体拥有成本意味着可用于太阳能发电的屋顶数量将会增加。使用太阳能发电的消费者越多，对降低碳排放和减少消费者受电价上涨影响的贡献就越大。它还允许消费者利用2010年4月推出的清洁能源现金返还奖励计划

This project aims to develop a universal solar roof tile which could be installed on any roofwith any roof tile. Existing solar roof tiles have been limited in their application as compatiblewith only a subset of the wide range of roof tiles on the market.Universality requires the development of a set of robust and cost effective interfaces betweenthe photovoltaic (PV) tile and the remainder of the roof, including ridges, verges, gutters and awide set of geometries. The opportunity is to create the solar equivalent of a Velux window –universal in its application, cost competitive with traditional solutions and aestheticallyappealing. Fundamentally, it should perform the weatherproofing function of a roof, but alsogenerate electricity.The bulk of today’s PV products use a limited palette of materials – notably aluminium andglass – to create the physical package. This proof of concept will explore a wider set ofmaterials and manufacturing processes as avenues to potential cost reductions to the non “PVcell”elements of the system. These investigations and the design should enable ongoing costreduction (see appended GTM graph).Solar cell costs continue to fall so the portion of the final installed cost for a PV system whichrelates to mounting structure and installation costs is becoming more important. A universalsolar roof tile will help to reduce the installed cost for PV by utilising existing constructionskills, namely roofers, and removing the need for a costly support structure by using thebuilding itself as support.Lowering the overall costs of ownership for a universal PV product means that the number ofroofs which can be used for solar generation will increase. The more consumers that accesssolar electricity, the greater the contribution to lowering carbon and reduction of consumerexposure to rising electricity prices. It also allows consumers to take advantage of the CleanEnergy Cash Back incentive scheme introduced in Apr 2010