Shame.. I've seen one of these in person on a high-end home and its a very nice looking product. I assume the lifespan would be similar to a metal roof.
Shame.. I've seen one of these in person on a high-end home and its a very nice looking product. I assume the lifespan would be similar to a metal roof.
> high-end home and its a very nice looking product
That might just be another way of saying "niche."
Regular solar panels work well but are an eyesore on a nice home.
A subjective eyesore shouldn't stop them from getting installed if they're functional.
I tend to think garages are an eyesore, and yet, basically everyone (including me) wants one included with their home.
Similarly the real eyesore in neighbourhoods is all the cars and the assorted infrastructure dedicated to them.
40% of Australian households have rooftop solar. You get used to the look very quickly, and well-installed ones look perfectly fine.
There's a third way: in-roof or roof integrated photovoltaics. Normal panels, but integrated into the roof. Those look amazing. Very popular in Switzerland where some villages have strict aesthetic rules for buildings.
Next best thing aesthetically are full-roof racks, where one face of the roof is 100% covered in panels. Nowadays you just have to select the right panel and you can make it tile the plane perfectly.
The previous owner own my house installed these (it was mandated by law here at the time). About 90% of the time they leak after about 10 years, and mine did. I had to have the installation re-done over the roof.
Don't you need fire setbacks? I didn't think full roof racks were possible
Building codes on that are going to vary locally. They are doable in most of Switzerland if you plan for it: no sky lights, no chimney (there's setbacks and fire codes for those), ect.
Eyesore? Maybe on well architected multimillion dollar custom homes.
On the average suburban tract home in my corner of the USA, panels are no more ugly than the shingled roofs they sit atop.