The BIPVs form the roof of a pair of recently completed modular homes
New Taiwanese building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) that mimic traditional roofing tiles debut this week at a demonstration house at the BRE’s Innovation Park in Watford.
The BIPVs form the roof of a pair of recently completed modular homes, called Üserhuus, and will provide more than 40% of the power needed by the properties.
Unlike traditional photovoltaics, which are installed as panels on top of a roof, the panels form the building’s roof covering itself. They are terracotta in colour and have a textured matt finish.
The new product is manufactured by Taiwanese photovoltaic technology specialist NexPower, whose sales director is travelling to the UK to launch the product.
This is the first time that these panels have been installed in the UK and according to the manufacturers it is the first time that BIPVs have been installed on a residential project in the UK.
Another innovation installed at the house is a battery storage system placed in the roof, allowing electricity that isn’t used at the time of generation to be stored, and circumventing the need to feed power back to the grid.
The battery is of a similar design to Tesla Motor’s Powerwall home battery, which was unveiled by the electric car manufacturer earlier this year.
The Üserhuus itself is designed to be an exemplar low energy home. It was constructed from a precision-engineered structural insulated panel system (SIPs) in a factory in Wales, then transported to Watford on the back of five lorries.
Overall the house was constructed in eight weeks, with six weeks in the factory, and two weeks on site, the the property was made weathertight and secure in just one day.
It has minimum carbon emissions, creates no site waste and is built primarily with British materials and products.
Funding for the project has come from Üserhuus AG, a Swiss, not-for-profit company which supports research in the fields of engineering and environmental sciences.
A local family is currently being sought to take part in occupancy trials so that the house can be tested to see how it performs in reality. It will be monitored for temperature, air moisture content, ventilation rates and energy use.
