SOLAR ROOF TILES : Latest generation solar technology

8 octubre 2025 admin Solar panels 0

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Paneles solares fotovoltaicos gratis

Solar tiles are an excellent alternative to solar panels that sometimes affect the visual of the house. The solar tiles installed on your roof produce a very pleasant view of your home while you are generating electricity.

Do your current tiles need to be replaced? Would you like to switch to solar energy, but normal solar panels do not match the appearance of your (new) home?

SOLAR ROOF TILES

In that case it may be interesting to invest in solar roof tiles. Solar tiles replace traditional roof tiles. In this article you can read more about what solar tiles are, how much they cost compared to normal tiles and the savings you can make with them.

What are solar tiles?

Solar panels can now be placed in a house in different ways. In addition to the regular (‘normal’) way in which the solar panels are placed on the roof, there is now an alternative: the solar tile.

The solar panels are integrated in the tiles. Often all panels are connected to an inverter . Currently there are two types of solar roof tiles: those of crystalline and those of thin film. The thin-film solar tiles have a smaller capacity than crystalline tiles.

Thin film sunscreens look a little more pleasant again due to the intense black color. A second alternative to traditional solar panels is the installation of solar panels as roof covers .

Sun tiles price, performance and return

Solar tiles look great, but they are much more expensive than normal solar panels . If you compare costs with a standard solar system, the average price of a solar tile with the same capacity (Wp number) is 3 times higher.

This is partly because he installs a completely new tile roof and removes the old one. That is labor-intensive work. Therefore, you really have to compare it to having a set of new tiles combined with a normal solar panel installation.

Solar roof tiles

In addition to the fact that solar tiles are more expensive than solar panels, they also offer less. The two main reasons for this are the oblique bulge of the solar tiles and the ventilation under the tile.

The tiles of the sunroof often have an oblique bulge, which means that the sun can not fall completely on the solar cells.

The ventilation under the roof tile is also deficient and the tiles work less efficiently at high temperatures. The performance of solar panels decreases as the panel heats up. Because not all solar shingles use solar energy, you need 25 percent more roof space compared to normal solar panels.

Solar tiles Solar panels
Installation costs € 3,500 € 1,000
Tiles (500 pieces) / Solar panels 4500 WP € 10,000 € 4,500
Total costs € 13,500 € 5,500
Amortization time 20 years 7 years

In summary, a solar tile is an emerging and unique application of solar energy that is particularly attractive from an aesthetic point of view.

However, the price of solar tiles is still quite high, which means that the recovery time is 2 to 3 times longer than that of normal solar panels.

When are solar tiles interesting?

Due to the high installation costs of solar tiles, they are rarely seen on the streets. Although solar shingles are in development, they are currently mainly interesting for:

  • Residents who are willing to pay much more for the aesthetic aspect;
  • Residents of new houses;
  • Residents whose roof needs a profound renovation;
  • Residents of houses for which the installation of normal solar panels on the roof is prohibited by Monumentzorg.

This innovative technique is not yet widely used, which means that there are still few suppliers in the market. Contact us for questions and advice about reliable suppliers!

What are the advantages of solar tiles?

  • It often looks better than solar panels on the roof.
  • They can fill the entire roof. Where solar panels can only be installed on one part of the roof, the entire roof can be covered with solar tiles .
  • You need less new shingles for new construction or if you replace your existing roof.
  • Solar panels can be placed on different types of tiles .
  • Solar tiles are more resistant to severe weather conditions .

What are the disadvantages of solar tiles?

  • The angle with the sun depends on the inclination of the roof and, therefore, can not be optimal. With a normal solar panel, this angle can be adjusted perfectly, unlike a solar tile.
  • The installation of solar tiles is approximately 2 to 3 times more expensive than that of normal solar panels.
  • A solar tile square meter (110 watts peak per m 2 ) provides less than one square meter of solar panel (150 watts peak per m 2 ).
  • In short, when the recovery period of normal solar panels is around 7 years, for solar tiles it increases to 20 years.

PHOTOVOLTAIC CERAMIC TILES

Ceramic photovoltaic tiles are the challenge of some Italian companies, who want to propose a product that has the characteristics of ceramics, but the energy efficiency of a photovoltaic panel.

The Panaria Group Industrie Ceramiche SpA , along with twelve other companies, which is located along the Emilia Romagna regional and national soil, are developing the “photovoltaic ceramic tiles to be used in innovative systems for the building envelope for the realization of several buildings Efficient, sustainable and economic .

In practice, they are cladding units (tiles, tiles) that, in addition to the traditional function of covering houses, may act as photovoltaic panels for the building they cover. “

(Solar tile)

The research on which they are based is called BPIV ( Building Photo PhotoVoltaics ) and aims to obtain two results at the end of the project, or rather two products. Both will be precisely products in porcelain stoneware , which is a material that is generally used for interiors and exteriors, thanks to its compactness.

According to what we read in the Panaria Group press release, “the first type of product will have a thin film of amorphous silicon integrated in the surface, a material for which the knowledge developed in research activities prior to this will be applied. material.

The results of which have already allowed the presentation of an international patent application concerning precisely the ceramics functionalized with amorphous silicon “.

While the second type of tile “will apply to the stoneware a thin film of another material, the CIGS, integrated to the surface, in order to study the performances and the constructive characteristics of this different photovoltaic technology.

equally promising, that integrated with ceramics can constitute a valid product alternative. and enrich the construction sector with diversified technological solutions according to needs and applications. “

This project won the call of the Ministry of Economic Development Industry 2015 , in the field of energy efficiency. Therefore, the idea of ​​Romagna can be achieved in about three years, although it must be said that the first prototypes were already presented in 2010.

However, the company is already aware that the costs of the success of these tiles will certainly be higher than traditional plants, to increase market entry, will try to rely on “national support policies, such as the New Law of Energy”.

(Ceramic photovoltaic tiles installed in a whole building).

In Emilia Romagna, the research on photovoltaic tiles is not born now, as in 2007 Gravini, a company from Modena, presented a laboratory “for the development of tiles with functionalized surface” with the CECERBENCH of the Ceramic Center of Bologna. Tiles of 10×10 cm, in which the “surface layer is capable of transforming light into electrical energy,

Later it is transmitted through a system of conduction, integrated in the layer immediately below. “Also in this case we speak of porcelain tiles and it was assumed that 30% of the energy needs of each apartment could be achieved in a building covered with tiles photovoltaic

We will see if in fact these ceramic photovoltaic tiles can be placed in the national market within three years, to be able to spend on buildings.