Let the sun shine in: SolTech Energy's glass roof tiles turn the sun's rays into usable thermal energy.
Winners of the 2010 “hottest new material” award at a construction materials trade show in Sweden, SolTech Energy is getting notice for its simple but effective way of harnessing the sun’s power to supplement building heating systems. Forget costly and complex photovoltaic cells. The concept is simply to replace traditional cement roof tile with clear glass tiles that allow the sun’s rays to penetrate. Inside, they are absorbed by black material which collects the heat and uses it to heat water pipes circulating the thermal power to an existing hot water heater or heating system. The idea is not to replace existing heating systems but to make them operate more efficiently by preheating them, saving money and energy.
A SolTech installation on a private residence in Järfälla, Sweden.
The finished installation results in gleaming roofed buildings, at times even appearing as if covered in ice. But these roofs are not ice or snow-friendly. In fact, glass-tile roofs quickly warm up and melt off the snow, allowing them to do their work on sunny winter days.
According to an article on the blog Inhabitat.com, SolTech initially collaborated with Orrefors in the development stages, but moved production to Portugal to manufacture them.
Adopting the existing shape of traditional clay tiles typical for Scandinavian roofs makes the product easier to integrate with existing roof systems. More information is available on the company’s Website at www.soltechenergy.com.
The glass tiles mimic the shape and size of traditional clay tiles to make installation and integration easier.