Open Energy BIPV Projects

From several press releases and the company website the following post has been generated for Open Energy Corporation (OEC), (OEGY)

OEC announced today, the completion of the installation of its SolarSave roofing tiles at the Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center, located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

The company provided 490 of its building-integrated photovoltaic SolarSave roofing tiles for the project. The 17.5 kilowatt roofing system was installed over 1500 square feet, making up a third of the roof's total surface area. The system is designed to generate an estimated 1800 kilowatt hours per month and up to a total of 20,000 kilowatt hours per year.

"This is our second installation of roofing tiles in less than 30 days ..." commented David Saltman, President and CEO of Open Energy. "Solar roofing applications are an extremely important alternative energy source and we're very pleased that our SolarSave roofing tiles were chosen for this project based on their ease of installation and superior energy output."

On July 24, 2006 the company announced that they had completed the installation of its SolarSave Roofing Tiles at the Tahoe Center for Environmental Science at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, NV.

OEC provided the roofing design and construction materials for a 31.5 kilowatt photovoltaic roofing system comprised of 900 SolarSave PV roof tiles as well as nine Open Energy 3500 watt inverters with combiner boxes. The system was chosen because of the high power provided, attractiveness of the tiles, ease of installation and the ability of the tiles to withstand up to 280 lbs per square foot -- important for the potential extreme snow loads on the building. The system will produce 4,400 kwh per month for the building.

"Open Energy's technology provides a far superior energy output compared to other solar providers that were being considered for this project," commented Rosario Milana of Life Quality Systems, one of the solar integrators that worked with the architect on this project. "The goal was to have the solar application provide all power for the building, and Open Energy's SolarSave roofing tiles have the capability of doing so under the right conditions."

According to their website:

SolarSave™ PV Tiles are the ideal solar solution for residential housing projects, which make prevalent use of cement or ceramic tiles. Our PV tiles designed to blend seamlessly with the colors and edge profiles of the most commonly used cement tiles. 

Unlike other competitors, SolarSave™ Tiles are waterproof, fire rated roofing products with 20-year warranty. They can be safely and easy installed by professional roofing contractors.

This patented building product has the following features and benefits:

• Robust, weather proof, fire rated roofing material with a single-source 20-year warranty
• Easily installed in accordance with Roof Tile Institute standards by building professionals
• Modular, expandable system:  PV tiles can added to the system to increase power output
• Tile sizes, shapes, colors and edge profiles blend seamlessly with standard cement tiles
• Low voltage (48 VDC) system in safer, easier to install, and can be grid tied or independent
• “Short String” inverter with 93% conversion ratio of DC to AC (highest in the industry).
• Flexible reinforced lamination protects crystalline cells from damaged or breakage
• Edge profiles naturally shed water and have a wind load rating to 125 mph with clips

The Evelyn Pease Tyner Interpretive Center is a learning shelter and exhibition space designed to tell the story of the prairie, the predominant pre-settlement ecosystem in Illinois. The environmentally-friendly building also includes natural lighting, a geothermal heat pump for heating and cooling, passive ventilation and incorporation of environmental materials such as paneling made of wheat straw. The project is applying for LEED Platinum Certification through the US Green Building Council.

In addition to the PV roof tiles OEC has developed a high efficiency solar powered roofing membrane for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential applications, which according to their website: 

SolarSave™ membranes encapsulate monocrystalline cells in high-performance composite materials laminated under vacuum pressure to create a single ply, waterproof, fire-rated, aesthetically appealing product.   Unlike competive modules, SolarSave™ membranes do not require external framing which can be expensive, difficult to maintain, and can damage the building envelope. 

SolarSave™ membranes contain a number of proprietary, patent pending elements.  Features and benefits of the product include:

• High-efficiency monocrystalline cells provide maximum power output per square foot of roof surface
• Fully integrated, waterproof, fire rated roofing membranes are rapidly installed and easily maintained
• Embedded bypass diodes minimize power drop caused by shading and debris for higher power yields
• Heavy duty MC junction boxes, output cables and polarized weatherproof DC-rated connectors provide fast, easy, reliable low-resistance connections.  Module connection is literally “a snap”.
• Lightweight PV membranes eliminate the need for additional structural reinforcement or external framing
• Fully scaleable and expandable:  Additional modules are easy to install as power requirements increase
• PV membranes can be installed over existing surfaces, eliminating costly roof demolition and removal
• System eliminates issues due to water ponding and wind uplift, keeping roof substructure dry and free from mold
• Compatible with premium quality system components (inverters, charge controllers, batteries, and data loggers) to meet the solar energy needs of any specific application.
• Installed with no roof penetrations, this building-integrated system won't impact the customer's existing roof warranty
• Maximizes energy production by easily installing around roof objects
• 20 year warranty on solar performance and roofing material

OEC also developing a concentrating solar product:

They are the exclusive worldwide licensee of an exciting new solar thermal technology that has tremendous potential for the Company. SunCone™ CSP is the creation of Dr. Melvin Prueitt, renowned physicist and research scientist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory. SunCone™ CSP utilizes non-imaging optical cones made of aluminized plastics to concentrate sunlight on rods at the base of each cone. A series of these cones can be mounted to a base through which water flows. The cones stay cool, but the fluid flowing through the base is superheated, then used to drive a turbine to produce electricity.

And last but not least they have a PV architectural glass for which they have an upcoming project.

OEC will design and manufacture custom PV glass to meet the aesthetic, performance, and structural requirements of design professionals. Sizes, shapes, and design configurations can be built to match virtually any specification available today, allowing for a direct substitution for monolithic, laminated, or insulated glass panels. It is often desirable to achieve a level of translucency in a photovoltaic skylight application. While a standard photovoltaic cell is opaque and125 mm2 square, the cells can be spread apart within a clear glass sandwich to provide a appropriate light levels and shading coefficients. Colors, thickness, patterns, and a wide variety of shapes can be produced. This product has had tremendous initial reception by the architecture and design community.

OEC is the sucessor company to Barnabus.

Resource: Open Energy Corporation, Solana Beach, California

Comments

[peo]

Hello,

I like your blog. I have added your site to my blogroll.

I was hoping you could take a look at my blog to see if you would like to add me to your blogroll under "Energy Blogs".

Positive Energy Output.

Thank you,

Josh

[Jim Baerg]

I've long thought that solar roofing material such as this would complement nuclear power very nicely, if it could be cheap enough. Since electricity demand peaks during the day, but there is still substantial demand at night, the combination of nuclear for base load & solar for the daytime peak makes sense.

It's not clear to me how expensive this solar roofing material is compared to ordinary shingles, but the difference may be small enough for this material to make economic sense.

I note that the building is near Chicago & snow load is a design factor. For such locations I think solar siding on the south side would make more sense than solar roofing. That would maximize the power available in winter when cold climate demand is highest & give power even just after a major snowfall.

[Tim]

The PV architectural glass seems interesting, and has a lot of potential uses. Though I wonder how much efficiency and power generation is sacrificed to achieve a desirable tranlucency.

Tim
Energy Efficient LED Rope Lights

[hamerhokie]

Cost per watt??

[amazingdrx]

The kwh yield seems a bit high. Maybe the figures would be correct in the desert southwest (Tahoe Center for Environmental Science at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village, NV), but I'm thinking more like 10,000 kwh per year for cloudier climes.

Which is ok, since that 1500 square feet of roof space will still power your home anyway, with 10,000 kwh per year fed into the grid to buffer the supply/demand inconsistencies.

Then cost IS the factor in the practicality of this system. Of course given mass production that cost factor would drop signifigantly.

Some measure of the efficiency of the PV cells would also help verify the kwh production figures.

A link to a page where one can order these products would be the best way to remedy these mysteries.

[Nucbuddy]

Dr. X wrote: with 10,000 kwh per year fed into the grid to buffer...

The grid is not a storage battery.
http://www.mnforsustain.org/windpower_big_money_discovers_the_money_schleede_0405.htm

[amazingdrx]

But it could be! With 100s of millions of electric plugin hybrids and electric vehicles hooked into it.

And energy intensive applications like melting glass and steel set up to operate at times of peak supply and low demand. this is already happening.

And building heating and cooling with geothermal heat pumps that operate during peak supply and low demand, then storing the heat or cool throughout the day.

And superconducting energy storage systems installeds on the grid, like my particular power provider has done here in northern wisconsin to buffer demand from the paper industry. The first in the world, it is saving a lot of fuel.

And renewable power systems connected across wide regions so that either wind, wave, water, or solar power can smooth out supply regardless of weather conditions in one particular area.

[Hamerhokie]

"The grid is not a storage battery."

In a net metering state, yes it is. For all intents and purposes, you are feeding excess energy into the grid during the day, and drawing it back at night.

[Randy]

What a great Idea
I live in Iowa and the high side of my 1 1/2 story house faces the south leaving me with more square footage of siding exposed to full sun than I have roofing as the roof slops east and west with an upstairs dorm room jutting out on the east side and a large tree shades the other.

Add solar siding to house with Solar roofing and you have even more energy produced.

This would also help out when 12 inches of snow covering the roofing panels. You can't get much energy out of the roofing panels then, but the snow on the ground will reflecting a lot of light energy off the ground into the siding of the house.

-----------------------------------
I note that the building is near Chicago & snow load is a design factor. For such locations I think solar siding on the south side would make more sense than solar roofing. That would maximize the power available in winter when cold climate demand is highest & give power even just after a major snowfall.
--------------------------------------

[heating]

If you have looked into solar energy as a method for heating your home, panels are usually the first things that come up.

There are, however, other unique methods.

The Solar Heating Aspect You Have Never Heard of Before

The power of the sun is immense. The energy in one day of sunlight is more than the world needs. The problem, of course,

is how does one harness this power. Solar panels represent the obvious solution, but they have their downside. First,

they can be expensive depending upon your energy needs. Second, they do not exactly blend in with the rest of your home.

Passive solar heating represents a panel free method of harnessing the inherent energy found in the sun for heating

purposes. If you come out from a store and open the door of your car in the summer, you understand the concept of passive

solar heating. A wide variety of material absorbs sunlight and radiates the energy back into the air in the form of heat.

Passive solar heating for a home works the same way as the process which overheats your car in the parking lot.

[Alex Maddox]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GlXKVj0Q0c

World Energy is coming, its going to teach, show explain why and where the industry leaders are going. And why shouldn't they, you are helping put their kids through college

[Roof Restoration]

Solar energy is the way to go. its been around for many years so why not harness it properly for the future.

[Build Your Own Windmill]

Solar Energy and Wind Power are definately the way of the future.

So many people want this that they have actually made plans availbe to build your own windmill and solar panels

[Commercial Roofing Contractors]

It gets even better - one company's developed "peel & stick" solar panels, that have an adhesive backing and can be installed by people who don't have special construction skills. The things take about half an hour to install...

[Delaware roofing]

This is really great! All that sunlight won't go to waste! All the sun does is heat up the roof. Imagine if you took the energy away from heating your house in the Summer and you used it as necessary to run your A/C.