Unisolar Roofing [RE-wrenches]

[Doug Pratt]

The factory-applied standing seam versions are going away. (Or may already
have gone.) It's all going to be peel 'n stick in the future. I don't have
any experience with it, yet, but I'm planning to put several kilowatts worth
on my new shop this summer. So I'm banking on easy installation and
relatively fade-free performance.
  The shingles are easy to install, interweave perfectly with standard
asphalt shingles, and do all their wiring connections underneath in the nice
dry attic. (That's the good stuff.) But they're more expensive than
conventional PVs with mounts, and they only have a Class C fire rating.
Which means most building inspectors won't approve them, unless they're
installed on top of regular shingles...and then why bother? They're a great
idea, but the actual product missed the target.
  The great number of wiring connectors on the SunSlates worry me. You have
to do a pair of connections for each slate, on site. Wire connectors were
the failure point on all the PV shingle products that were tried out in the
late '80s, early '90s. You put wire connections on the roof, in the weather,
you're begging for trouble (IMHO).

Doug Pratt


Holt Kelly wrote:

> Hello all,
> Would like to throw out for discussion the pros and cons of the standing
> seam roofing system. Architectural or field applied. And how about the
> shingles? I've seen Sunslates, they look cool but look like a bear to
> install. Any comments?
>

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