Living sustainably is not only is good for the environment it’s good for your hip pocket. Modern living consumes more energy than ever to power our appliances, hot water, lights, devices and vehicles. Harnessing this energy sustainably goes a long way to living a carbon neutral life along with minimising non-recyclable household waste.
Roofs have long been a source of generating both electrical energy and thermal energy in the form of solar hot water. Each requires additional solar systems affixed almost as an afterthought to an otherwise functional roof. The rise of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) is a fancy way of saying that more modern designs build solar capability into the function of the roofing structure.
The Rise of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics
Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) has a number of benefits with some unique features only found in Tractile.
- Aesthetics – With no visible solar panels or hot water system, the roofline remains uninterrupted.
- Better solar performance – unique to Tractile, running water through the solar tiles not only heats water saving electricity costs, it cools the solar tiles allowing them to generate more electrical energy.
- Better insulation – by using water to cool the cells this takes heat away from the roof, lowering room temperature and placing less reliance on air-conditioning. Saving energy even further.
- Roof position & condition – it is well known that in Australia, a large north facing section roof will generate more solar energy than other directions. It is also necessary to have a roof pitch of around 24 degrees to maximise performance. Also, shade, wind and dust can all impact performance
No compromise on lifestyle
There are no limits to the scale of energy production possible from a well design sustainable home. For instance, a properly positioned 20kWp Tractile solar roof combined with a battery could:
- Provide enough electricity to run all the home’s appliances, lights and power and an electric vehicle 24×7, 365 days of the year.
- Generate enough hot water for showers, baths, washing machines and dishwashers along with heating the property through hydronic underfloor heating and even a pool or spa if needed.
There would also be periods in the day where sending power back to the grid could earn income to contribute to the cost of installation. Over time a sustainable and cash positive result is certainly possible.
With a roof enabling so much to do with your day-to-day life, it makes sense to make an informed decision if you are looking to replace your roof or build a new home. The easy to instal Tractile Premium roof has a number of benefits in additional to solar energy production. Tractile is certified for extreme winds (N5r – up to 266.4km/h), is resistant to 90mm (softball sized) hailstones and suitable for use in bushfire prone regions (BAL-40).
