Swiss manufacturer Megasol stated that the new product is compatible with the most common tile formats and is also available in different colors. Megasol has also developed a coating to eliminate the glare effect of solar modules.
According to reports, Terra Cotta is one of Megasolar's most popular solar tile optics.
Swiss manufacturer Megasol launched a photovoltaic tile last year, which is said to be compatible with a variety of roof tiles.
Megasol provides three standard formats, which can be combined with each other as required. "Compatible means that'matched' solar modules can replace one or more tiles in an existing tile roof without any further adjustments," Megasol Marketing Manager Michael Reist explained to Photovoltaic Magazine.
Solar tiles are not only compatible with the most common roof tiles, they are also available in different colors. The Full Black and Terra Cotta variants have proven to be popular optics, and other individual colors can also be created. According to the manufacturer, photovoltaic tiles can be freely designed for any building.
"It is also possible to use a glass structure to give the Match solar module a unique appearance," Reist explains. "You can use classic solar glass, or such as Creek, Diamond, River or Wave glass surface." To this end, Megasol also won this year's International Red Dot Design Award.
Photovoltaic tiles are also suitable for various roof shapes. In addition to being used for tiled roofs, it can also be used in combination with partitioned roofs such as fiber cement tiles.
One reason photovoltaic roof tiles are still a niche product is that their energy conversion performance is quite low, and at the same time, they are more expensive than traditional roof panels. But technological progress does not stop at solar roof tiles. According to Megasol, Match is composed of glass-glass modules, which can also be used as roof tiles. The product does not require an aluminum frame or plastic housing to work. Since each type of tile has several standard formats, the performance of photovoltaic tiles varies accordingly. According to Megasol, the power output of these two standard products is 22 W and 55 W respectively, and its maximum power product reaches 99 W. As the color changes, performance loss is normal, but these also show "good performance values", the manufacturer continued.
In addition, photovoltaic tiles have high load-bearing capacity and anti-hail protection. The Swiss photovoltaic manufacturer assumes a service life of up to 50 years and provides a warranty of up to 35 years.
The system consists of two parts: glass-glass solar modules and mounting hooks. According to Megasol, photovoltaic tiles are also suitable for integration into existing tile roofs, and existing roof slats can be used. Each individual module has a positive and negative connector. As the supplier explained, using long cables, the photovoltaic roof tile matching can be routed horizontally and vertically. If the photovoltaic roof tiles are damaged, the simple structure allows simple replacement.
The peak watt price of rooftop solar modules is higher than that of traditional panels, but at the same time photovoltaic tiles also have roof functions. “With Match, not only the photovoltaic system is installed, but also a new roof,” Reist continued. "If the cost of the new roof covering is deducted from the matching roof, the result is more or less the cost of the roof photovoltaic system." If you also consider the longer service life of glass-glass solar modules, compared with the use of glass in traditional roof systems Compared to foil solar modules, the cost of the Match system during runtime may even be cheaper.
Recently, Megasol has started another topic, which is a big problem for many photovoltaic system operators or their neighbors: the glare effect of solar modules. According to the Swiss photovoltaic manufacturer, due to the use of solar glass, objectively speaking, the actual glare effect of solar modules is significantly lower than that of large windows or skylights. However, the subjective perception of the glare effect caused by solar modules is sometimes different. This is why the manufacturer developed the ZeroReflect surface, which claims to have zero glare.
Megasol developed this special surface coating independently of its photovoltaic roof tiles. "Existing solar systems can also be equipped with ZeroReflect. The cost incurred may be many times lower than the potential cost of anti-glare reports, court hearings, or even just prolonged discussions in possible neighborhood disputes," Reist said.
*The article was revised on November 8th to reflect that the manufacturer’s name is Megasol instead of Megasolar as we previously reported.
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