Advantages of Roof-Integrated Solar "can no longer be ignored"

Don Holley, Director of Sollos, said: “Until now your choice for roof-integrated Solar PV was between low cost and high quality. Now you can have both. We believe that the price difference between integrated PV and rack-mounted PV is now so small that the advantages of integration can no longer be ignored. As well as the obvious benefits in terms of aesthetics and resale value, integration leaves the roof in a condition that can be easily maintained in future.”

So, what are the benefits?

Environmental – does it really make any sense to waste roofing materials when you don’t have to? Every square metre of roofing material used on roof top systems is a duplication of resources taken from our environment and is unnecessary when you have the Clearline Fusion roof-integrated system.

Sustainability – Architects and designers pride themselves on making things enduringly beautiful, practical, and efficient. Look at the entire communities in the videos on our website that have Clearline Fusion roof-integrated solar on every house. It’s designed to look beautiful now and in the future. We need to see more of this in Australia. Clearline Fusion is not only efficient and practical; is also aesthetically pleasing and blends well with all architectural styles and environments. Beauty endures! 

Maintenance– Quality solar panels should last thirty years or more. In this time, it is highly likely that the roof covering will need either maintenance or replacement. An on-roof system will have tiles, metal, or slate roofing material behind the panels, so the solar system would need to be decommissioned and removed before a single tile can be replaced. A simple job that can be carried out from a roof ladder by a roofing contractor has become a significant task that requires scaffolding and the involvement of an electrician or solar installer. With roof-integrated solar, there are no tiles behind the panels, so all roofing repairs can be carried out while leaving the solar system in place and generating electricity for you.

Installation – For new roofs, or extensions to existing buildings, the task of fitting an above-roof solar system afterwards can be difficult. Tiles may need to be broken to access the roof structure below and attach fixing brackets. Replacing removed tiles in accordance with the roof fixing specification is likely to require an adhesive bond between the replaced tile and the surrounding ones. By contrast, roof-integrated solar panels can be installed easily in a new roof.  Sollos’ trained installers can fix the panels and flashings before the roofing contractors fix the roof covering around them.

Bird infestation – Solar panels fixed above the roof offer a safe, sheltered area behind for birds to roost or nest. While this may at first sound like a good thing to do, householders with solar installations that have been colonised in this way, including noise and fouling of the panels, walls and paths below the nests. A small industry has sprung up to bird-proof above-roof solar installations with spikes and mesh around the outside, further reducing their aesthetic appeal.