From Inhabitat:
Researchers at PNNL developed a film encapsulation process that was initially used for protecting flat panel displays over 15 years ago. However with the recent emphasis on energy generating technologies, they decided to take a second look at the materials and encapsulation process. It turns out that this encapsulation process can be used to protect components that are intended to be exposed to ultraviolet lights and natural elements, making it perfect for waterproofing thin-film solar panels.
I first dreamed of this sort of thing in ’96 or ’97 – it’s so nice to see something like this emerging.
Now, to figure out where to drive the nail, or step when fiddling with the OTA antenna….
I watched a segment on the green network where they installed a steel roof and then rolled on panels as a sticker. Also the roof was black so they had hot water tubing underneath as well.
That seemed more practical than this. Imagine trying to keep a connection going between all those shingles. It would be like having your roof covered in Christmas lights and having no way to tell which one had burned out.
Also, I don’t think solar panels work too well when you pound a roofing nail through them.
Need to replace asphalt shingles on home. Would like to investigate solar shingle roofing.
This is cool but why don’t we use a different approach of increasing the efficency and begin to add the second variable which is to expand the metal as it heats up by the light. There are plenty of metals out there that as they expand and contract they produce electricity. Now we have two methods in one technology that would increase the efficency by 2 times