Economic energy-efficient solar roofs for green buildings

An increasing number of photovoltaic (PV) system are being installed in Norway following international trends of an increasing importance of PV. Although the current market (2022) is much smaller than even in Sweden and Denmark, it is expanding fast, both for homes and for larger buildings (commercial and industrial). ISOLA expects that the demand for BIPV solutions in Norway will grow at least as fast as the rest of the PV market. The interest in BIPV installations is increasing especially for new buildings or renovation projects. There is currently a significant activity for new build homes which is expected to continue. There are some BIPV products on the market, however, high cost is still the big challenge especially due to small production volumes for customized products. The main goal of the E3Roof project was to develop an economic and energy efficient BIPV solution compatible with ISOLA's existing roof tile product range with a focus on the Powertekk Plano. ISOLA AS has an extensive know-how of the Nordic building value chain and a well-established market and network. The ISM-6M module has been developed together with the Isola BIPV mounting system (patent pending) for horisontal and vertical placement on both roof and facades. At the end of the project the product is ready for market launch in all-black and implementation is ongoing for various colours.

The E3Roof project has been a success for ISOLA. We have developed two different building integrated solar energy solutions for both roofs and facades. These have been designed and tested for Nordic climatic conditions including heavy rain and relevant wind loads. The products are ready for market launch. As a part of the market preparation, dialogue with some of the largest house builders in Norway has been conducted with positive feedback. Piloting the solution together with some of the house builders is under consideration. In addition to the in-house competence and organisation building done during the project, the activities conducted have been beneficial for the participating research institutes as well. Both IFE and SINTEF have developed competence and methodologies relevant for ISOLA at a later stage as well as for other companies doing product development within solar cells and modules.

The main goal of the E3Roof project is to develop an economic and energy-efficient building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product, namely a solar roof tile based on Isolas existing rooftile; Powertekk. Isolas Powertekk steel roof tiles will be combined with state-of-the-art solar modules produced by the Chinese solar module producer TaleSun. The multi-functioning product will merge the properties of the roof tile developed for the challenging Nordic market with the energy producing element from the solar cell module. The project will be performed in stages; Prototype solar roof tiles will be produced in the beginning of the project. These prototypes will be carefully tested and evaluated, both in field studies and in controlled laboratory environments. Based on experiences with the prototypes the design of the commercial product will be established. Finally work towards the next generation, light weight product, will be started. In addition to developing a high performance BIPV product, emphasis will be placed on the aesthetics as the main market is the Nordic countries and Northern Europe. The project owner is Isola, a leading manufacturer in building materials in Norway. TaleSun, one of Chinas (and the worlds) top 10 largest solar cell and module producers, will provide production and expertise on the photovoltaic element. The Norwegian research institutes IFE and SINTEF will help address the scientific and technical challenges.