GB2431773A - Solar panel devices - Google Patents

Solar panel devices Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2431773A
GB2431773A GB0521986A GB0521986A GB2431773A GB 2431773 A GB2431773 A GB 2431773A GB 0521986 A GB0521986 A GB 0521986A GB 0521986 A GB0521986 A GB 0521986A GB 2431773 A GB2431773 A GB 2431773A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
tile
solar panel
panel device
rear surface
roof
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB0521986A
Other versions
GB0521986D0 (en
Inventor
Gregory Cornelius Victo Jansen
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
ENIGMA GLASS Ltd
Original Assignee
ENIGMA GLASS Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by ENIGMA GLASS Ltd filed Critical ENIGMA GLASS Ltd
Priority to GB0521986A priority Critical patent/GB2431773A/en
Publication of GB0521986D0 publication Critical patent/GB0521986D0/en
Publication of GB2431773A publication Critical patent/GB2431773A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L31/00—Semiconductor devices sensitive to infrared radiation, light, electromagnetic radiation of shorter wavelength or corpuscular radiation and specially adapted either for the conversion of the energy of such radiation into electrical energy or for the control of electrical energy by such radiation; Processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment thereof or of parts thereof; Details thereof
    • H01L31/02—Details
    • H01L31/0236—Special surface textures
    • H01L31/0483—
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H02—GENERATION; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER
    • H02S—GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES
    • H02S20/00—Supporting structures for PV modules
    • H02S20/20—Supporting structures directly fixed to an immovable object
    • H02S20/22—Supporting structures directly fixed to an immovable object specially adapted for buildings
    • H02S20/23—Supporting structures directly fixed to an immovable object specially adapted for buildings specially adapted for roof structures
    • H02S20/25—Roof tile elements
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
    • Y02B10/00—Integration of renewable energy sources in buildings
    • Y02B10/10—Photovoltaic [PV]
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
    • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
    • Y02E10/00—Energy generation through renewable energy sources
    • Y02E10/50—Photovoltaic [PV] energy

Abstract

A solar panel device 10 comprising a rectangular roof tile 11 formed of a sheet of glass, shaped to match a conventional roof tile by heating the glass sheet in a mould and allowing the sheet to conform to the shape of the mould. Formations are added to the upper and lower side edges of the rear surface of the tile by fusing extra pieces of glass onto the sheet. A flexible photo voltaic cell 12 in sheet form is adhered to the rear surface of the tile 11. The peripheral regions of the rear surface of the tile 11 are coated with a layer 13 of opaque epoxy paint having a similar colour to the colour of the photo voltaic cell 12. The front surface of the glass tile 11 comprises a textured layer 14 formed of a plurality of glass beads which are fused to the glass substrate material.

Description

<p>SOLAR PANEL DEVICES</p>
<p>This invention relates to solar panel devices for mounting on roofs and to a roof assembly incorporating the same.</p>
<p>It is well known to mount solar panels or so-called photo voltaic cells on the roofs of houses and other buildings, in order to generate electrical current from the ambient light. The generated electrical current can be used to power appliances within the building and/or to supply power to the national supply grid.</p>
<p>A disadvantage of known solar panels is that they look unsightly when mounted on the roofs of houses and other buildings. A further disadvantage is that the roofs will often have to be adapted to accommodate solar panels, which is expensive, undesirable and can weaken or damage the roof. Also, planning regulations may prohibit the mounting of solar panels on roofs and/or the adaptation of roofs to accommodate solar panels.</p>
<p>We have now devised a solar panel device which alleviates the above-mentioned problems.</p>
<p>According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a solar panel device comprising a transparent roof tile and a photo voltaic cell mounted to the rear surface of the tile and arranged to generate electrical current from light transmitted through the tile.</p>
<p>In use, the device can be mounted to a roof in place of a conventional roof tile and as such will not look unsightly on a roof. Also, no adaptation of the roof is required because the device is fitted in place of a conventional roof tile.</p>
<p>Photo voltaic cells are generally dark in colour and thus the device closely resembles the dark colour of conventional roof tiles. Thus, a solar panel device in accordance with the present invention does not look out of place on a roof. However, part of the rear surface of the tile may not be covered by the photo voltaic cell and accordingly, means are preferably provided for covering the rear surface of the tile around the photo voltaic cell, so that the solar panel device appears to be of substantially uniform colour when viewed from the front.</p>
<p>The covering means preferably comprises a coating of paint or resin which is applied to the rear surface of the tile.</p>
<p>Preferably the photo voltaic cell is adhered to the rear surface of the tile.</p>
<p>Preferably the front surface of the tile is profiled to match conventional roof tiles.</p>
<p>Accordingly, the rear surface of the tile may also be profiled as a result of the manufacturing process used to form the profiled front surface. In order to prevent voids between the profiled rear surface and the photo voltaic cell, the photo voltaic cell preferably comprises a flexible sheet, which is deformed to substantially conform to the shape of the rear surface of the tile.</p>
<p>Preferably the tile comprises opposite lateral side edges provided with complementary formations for engaging or overlapping the corresponding formations on adjacent tiles in a generally water tight manner.</p>
<p>Preferably the rear surface of the tile comprises projections for engaging roof battens, the photo voltaic cell preferably being disposed remote from said projections.</p>
<p>Preferably the roof tile is formed of glass, which is a strong and hard wearing material.</p>
<p>Preferably the tile is formed by heating a cut sheet of glass in a mould and allowing the glass sheet to slump into the mould profile.</p>
<p>Projections and other formations may be provided on the rear surface of the tile by applying additional glass pieces to the sheet in the mould and allowing the pieces to fuse to the sheet during the slumping process.</p>
<p>Preferably the front surface of the tile is textured to make the tile less reflective. The texture is preferably formed by a plurality of glass beads or particles which are fused to the front surface of the tile. An advantage of this arrangement is that the fused beads or particles form lenses which act to concentrate the light onto the photo voltaic cell and thereby increase its electrical output. Also, the textured surface increases the surface area of the tile, thereby collecting more light which is reflected and refracted towards the photo voltaic cell.</p>
<p>According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a roof assembly comprising at least one solar panel device as hereinbefore described.</p>
<p>Preferably the assembly comprises a plurality of solar panel devices mounted in an array.</p>
<p>Preferably adjacent solar panel devices in the array overlap to prevent the ingress of water.</p>
<p>Preferably the roof assembly also comprises a plurality of conventional roof tiles having a substantially similar shape to the tiles of the solar panel devices, at least some of the conventional roof tiles overlapping with the solar panel devices.</p>
<p>Preferably the solar panel devices are electrically connected to each other and/or to a loom, which extends behind the tiles.</p>
<p>An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of an example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a solar panel device in accordance with this invention; Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the solar panel device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view of the solar panel device of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a sectional view along the line IV-lV of Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a roof comprising a plurality of the devices Figure 1.</p>
<p>Referring to Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, there is shown a solar panel device 10 comprising a rectangular roof tile 11 formed of a sheet of glass, which is shaped to match a conventional roof tile by heating the glass sheet in a mould and allowing the sheet to conform to the shape of the mould. Formations are added to the upper and lower side edges of the rear surface of the tile by placing extra pieces of glass into the mould prior to heating and allowing the glass pieces to fuse to the sheet.</p>
<p>A flexible photo voltaic cell 12 in sheet form is adhered to the rear surface of the tile II.</p>
<p>The peripheral regions of the rear surface of the tile 11 are coated with a layer 13 of opaque epoxy paint having a similar colour to the colour of the photo voltaic cell 12.</p>
<p>The front surface of the glass tile 11 comprises a textured layer 14 formed of a plurality of glass beads which are fused to the glass substrate material.</p>
<p>A cable 15 extends from the photo voltaic cell 12 and a connector 16 is provided at the outer end of the cable 16 for connecting the photo voltaic cell to a wiring loom.</p>
<p>Referring to Figure 5 of the drawings, in use, a plurality of solar panel devices are mounted in an array on a roof together with a plurality of conventional roof tiles 17, which surround the array. The tiles 11 of the solar panel devices 10 are substantially identical in shape to the conventional roof tile 17 and the side edges of the tiles 11, 17 sealingly interengage wth each other. The lower ends of the tiles 11, 17 also overlap with the upper ends of the tiles 11, 17 in the row below.</p>
<p>It will be appreciated that the solar panel devices 10 are almost indistinguishable from the conventional roof tiles 17 and thus do not look unsightly. Furthermore, no adaptation of the roof is required and the solar panel devices 10 can either be fitted from new or as replacements to existing tiles.</p>
<p>The current generated by a large array of solar panel devices 10 can be sufficient to power a house and any surplus current can be fed to the national grid or to storage devices.</p>

Claims (1)

  1. <p>Claims 1. A solar panel device comprising a transparent roof tile and a
    photo voltaic cell mounted to the rear surface of the tile and arranged to generate electrical current from light transmitted through the tile.</p>
    <p>2. A solar panel device as claimed in claim 1 wherein part of the rear surface of the tile is not covered by the photo voltaic cell and accordingly, means are provided for covering the rear surface of the tile around the photo voltaic cell, so that the solar panel device appears to be of substantially uniform colour when viewed from the front.</p>
    <p>3. A solar panel device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the covering means comprises a coating of paint or resin which is applied to the rear surface of the tile.</p>
    <p>4. A solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the photo voltaic cell is adhered to the rear surface of the tile.</p>
    <p>5. A solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the front surface of the tile is profiled to match conventional roof tiles.</p>
    <p>6. A solar panel device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rear surface of the tile is profiled as a result of the manufacturing process used to form the profiled front surface.</p>
    <p>7. A solar panel device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the photo voltaic cell comprises a flexible sheet, which is deformed to substantially conform to the shape of the rear surface of the tile.</p>
    <p>8. A solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tile comprises opposite lateral side edges provided with complementary formations for engaging or overlapping the corresponding formations on adjacent tiles in a generally water tight manner.</p>
    <p>9. A solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rear surface of the tile comprises projections for engaging roof battens, the photo voltaic cell being disposed remote from said projections.</p>
    <p>10.A solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the roof tile is formed of glass.</p>
    <p>11. A solar panel device as claimed in claim 10, wherein the tile is formed by heating a cut sheet of glass in a mould and allowing the glass sheet to slump into the mould profile.</p>
    <p>12.A solar panel device as claimed in claim 6, wherein projections and other formations are provided on the rear surface of the tile by applying additional glass pieces to the sheet in the mould and allowing the pieces to fuse to the sheet during the slumping process.</p>
    <p>13.A solar panel device as claimed in any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the front surface of the tile is textured to make the tile less reflective.</p>
    <p>14.A solar panel device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the texture is formed by a plurality of glass beads or particles which are fused to the front surface of the tile.</p>
    <p>15.A roof assembly comprising at east one solar panel device as claimed in any preceding claim.</p>
    <p>16.A roof assembly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the assembly comprises a plurality of solar panel devices mounted in an array.</p>
    <p>17,A roof assembly as claimed in caim 16, wherein adjacent solar panel devices in the array overlap to prevent the ingress of water.</p>
    <p>18.A roof assembly as claimed in any of claims 15 to 17, wherein the roof assembly also comprises a plurality of coiventional roof tiles having a substantially similar shape to the tiles of the solar panel devices, at least some of the conventional roof tiles overlapping with the solar anel devices.</p>
    <p>19.A roof assembly as claimed in any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the solar panel devices are electrically connecled to each other and/or to a loom, which extends behind the tiles.</p>
    <p>20.A solar panel device substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.</p>
    <p>21.A roof assembly substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.</p>
GB0521986A 2005-10-28 2005-10-28 Solar panel devices Withdrawn GB2431773A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0521986A GB2431773A (en) 2005-10-28 2005-10-28 Solar panel devices

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0521986A GB2431773A (en) 2005-10-28 2005-10-28 Solar panel devices

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0521986D0 GB0521986D0 (en) 2005-12-07
GB2431773A true GB2431773A (en) 2007-05-02

Family

ID=35515884

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB0521986A Withdrawn GB2431773A (en) 2005-10-28 2005-10-28 Solar panel devices

Country Status (1)

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GB (1) GB2431773A (en)

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2932832A1 (en) * 2008-06-23 2009-12-25 Jean Baptiste Chevrier PHOTOVOLTAIC COVER ELEMENT
EP2159850A1 (en) 2008-08-26 2010-03-03 Dachziegelwerk Nelskamp GmbH Tile, in particular roofing tile
GB2463673A (en) * 2008-09-22 2010-03-24 Mark Andrew Ashdown Photovoltaic roof tiles
WO2010042964A2 (en) 2008-10-16 2010-04-22 Hans-Peter Rainer Solar module system
WO2011117481A1 (en) * 2010-03-23 2011-09-29 Luxol Photovoltaics Highly curved photovoltaic element
ES2536572A1 (en) * 2014-12-05 2015-05-26 Cristaleria Mascarell, S.L. Constructive element suitable for installation on roofs or similar (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)
WO2021026093A3 (en) * 2019-08-06 2021-03-11 Tesla, Inc. System and method for improving color appearance of solar roofs
US11431282B2 (en) 2017-09-28 2022-08-30 Tesla, Inc. Glass cover with optical-filtering coating for managing color of a solar roof tile
US11431279B2 (en) 2018-07-02 2022-08-30 Tesla, Inc. Solar roof tile with a uniform appearance

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1982776U (en) * 1968-01-16 1968-04-04 Heribert Bihr THROUGH THREADED SPINDLE ADJUSTABLE AND THROUGH READABLE SCALE RING, LENGTH-ADJUSTABLE STOP FOR LATHE.
JPS58145637A (en) * 1982-02-23 1983-08-30 Asahi Glass Co Ltd Glass roofing tile for lighting
DE3247469A1 (en) * 1982-12-22 1984-07-19 Bernd 5630 Remscheid Melchior Roofing tile having semiconductor photocells and cooling
DE3715034A1 (en) * 1987-05-06 1987-10-22 Wolfgang Dr Ing Junkermann Photovoltaic system on glass roof tiles
DE3623578A1 (en) * 1986-05-15 1988-01-21 Kirschning Hans Joachim Dipl Phys Dr -Ing Photovoltaic component of building structures and buildings
DE3715535A1 (en) * 1987-05-09 1988-11-17 Hans Joachim Dipl P Kirschning Glass roof-tiles which act as solar-cells - produced by plastic deformation of float glass material
JPH03191159A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-08-21 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd Lighting/ventilating system with solar cell
DE29719900U1 (en) * 1997-11-08 1998-02-19 Labin Marek Power generation facility
US20020142150A1 (en) * 2000-12-21 2002-10-03 Ferro Gmbh Substrates with a self-cleaning surface, a process for their production and their use

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE1982776U (en) * 1968-01-16 1968-04-04 Heribert Bihr THROUGH THREADED SPINDLE ADJUSTABLE AND THROUGH READABLE SCALE RING, LENGTH-ADJUSTABLE STOP FOR LATHE.
JPS58145637A (en) * 1982-02-23 1983-08-30 Asahi Glass Co Ltd Glass roofing tile for lighting
DE3247469A1 (en) * 1982-12-22 1984-07-19 Bernd 5630 Remscheid Melchior Roofing tile having semiconductor photocells and cooling
DE3623578A1 (en) * 1986-05-15 1988-01-21 Kirschning Hans Joachim Dipl Phys Dr -Ing Photovoltaic component of building structures and buildings
DE3715034A1 (en) * 1987-05-06 1987-10-22 Wolfgang Dr Ing Junkermann Photovoltaic system on glass roof tiles
DE3715535A1 (en) * 1987-05-09 1988-11-17 Hans Joachim Dipl P Kirschning Glass roof-tiles which act as solar-cells - produced by plastic deformation of float glass material
JPH03191159A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-08-21 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd Lighting/ventilating system with solar cell
DE29719900U1 (en) * 1997-11-08 1998-02-19 Labin Marek Power generation facility
US20020142150A1 (en) * 2000-12-21 2002-10-03 Ferro Gmbh Substrates with a self-cleaning surface, a process for their production and their use

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2932832A1 (en) * 2008-06-23 2009-12-25 Jean Baptiste Chevrier PHOTOVOLTAIC COVER ELEMENT
WO2010007546A2 (en) * 2008-06-23 2010-01-21 Photovoltaics Sas Luxol Photovoltaic roofing element
WO2010007546A3 (en) * 2008-06-23 2010-12-16 Photovoltaics Sas Luxol Photovoltaic roofing element
EP2159850A1 (en) 2008-08-26 2010-03-03 Dachziegelwerk Nelskamp GmbH Tile, in particular roofing tile
GB2463673A (en) * 2008-09-22 2010-03-24 Mark Andrew Ashdown Photovoltaic roof tiles
WO2010042964A2 (en) 2008-10-16 2010-04-22 Hans-Peter Rainer Solar module system
WO2011117481A1 (en) * 2010-03-23 2011-09-29 Luxol Photovoltaics Highly curved photovoltaic element
FR2957952A1 (en) * 2010-03-23 2011-09-30 Luxol Photovoltaics HIGHLY GALBE PHOTOVOLTAIC ELEMENT
ES2536572A1 (en) * 2014-12-05 2015-05-26 Cristaleria Mascarell, S.L. Constructive element suitable for installation on roofs or similar (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)
US11431282B2 (en) 2017-09-28 2022-08-30 Tesla, Inc. Glass cover with optical-filtering coating for managing color of a solar roof tile
US11431279B2 (en) 2018-07-02 2022-08-30 Tesla, Inc. Solar roof tile with a uniform appearance
WO2021026093A3 (en) * 2019-08-06 2021-03-11 Tesla, Inc. System and method for improving color appearance of solar roofs
US11431280B2 (en) 2019-08-06 2022-08-30 Tesla, Inc. System and method for improving color appearance of solar roofs
AU2020326625B2 (en) * 2019-08-06 2023-03-16 Tesla, Inc. System and method for improving color appearance of solar roofs
US11955921B2 (en) 2019-08-06 2024-04-09 Tesla, Inc. System and method for improving color appearance of solar roofs

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Publication number Publication date
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