Rooftop solar panels aren’t a great fit for every property. Some roofs can’t support their bulky design, or are positioned in a way that means they can’t be used. Other buildings can’t have solar panels fitted to them for heritage reasons. But there is an alternative solution that many people don’t know about: solar roof tiles.
Sleek and compact, solar roof tiles are an aesthetically pleasing alternative to conventional solar panels. But, what are solar roof tiles and how do they work? In this Canstar guide, we reveal the benefits of solar roof tiles, and whether they are available in New Zealand.
What are solar roof tiles?
Solar roof tiles are just like smaller, compact solar panels. However, rather than being positioned and bolted onto an existing roof like a regular solar panel, solar roof tiles are incorporated into the design of the roof itself, thanks to their tile-like design. This allows them to blend seamlessly into a home’s existing roofline.
Because solar roof tiles become part of the structure of the roof, they are referred to in the construction industry as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
How do solar roof tiles work?
Solar roof tiles work in exactly the same way as conventional photovoltaics (PV) panels, in that they capture sunlight and convert it into electricity with the help of a solar inverter.
However, because solar roof tiles are also part of the roofing structure, they also serve the dual purpose of protecting your home from the elements, just like conventional roofing tiles or slates.
What are the advantages of solar roof tiles?
There are few notable advantages to using solar roof tiles. These include:
- Can be used in hard-to-reach places: If you’re unable to install solar panels on your property due to the design or positioning of your roof, you may be able to use solar roof tiles instead.
- Limited damage to existing roof: As the tiles are part of the roofing, you don’t need to worry about drilling holes or mounting bulky equipment on top of your roof.
- Offer more protection against the elements: Conventional solar panels can put extra stress on a roof during storms and strong winds.
- Visually appealing: Solar roof tiles are a lot more aesthetically pleasing than mounted panels, and seamlessly blend in with the architecture of the house.
Are there any disadvantages to solar roof tiles?
While there are some obvious benefits to using solar roof tiles over mounted panels, there are also a few notable drawbacks. The main things to consider are:
- Availability: This is perhaps the biggest sticking point: solar roof tiles are not readily available in New Zealand.
- Initial cost: As a more recent innovation, solar roof tiles are significantly more expensive than regular solar panels to install. In addition, the solar tiles currently on the market are only available as part of custom whole-roof solutions. This means that they can’t be selectively retrofitted to an existing non-brand roof, and are best installed as part of a completely new roofing system.
- More complicated installation process: As solar roof tiles are part of a roof’s structure, they need to be installed by specialised building contractors employing skilled roofers and licensed electricians.
- Repairs and maintenance: While solar panels are an established technology, solar roof tiles are still a relatively new product. This means there are fewer companies in the market offering repair and maintenance services.
- Efficiency depends on surface area: The number of tiles added to a roof and their positioning has a big influence on their efficiency. While a solar panel mount can be re-adjusted to help improve performance, once solar tiles have been placed, it’s a complicated and costly job to remove and re-lay them.
Solar roof tiles brands, and their availability in New Zealand
Unfortunately, solar roof tiles are not readily available in New Zealand. Even over the ditch in Australia, where solar-panel uptake is far more advanced, Tesla's once much-hyped solar tile product never made it to market and solar tiles remain a niche product. Reflecting this fact, there's just three Australian companies that install solar tiles, and then only as part of complete-roof packages.
Bristile Roofing and Volt solar tiles
Bristile Roofing and Volt are two separate companies that combine to deliver advanced solar tile roofing solutions. Australian company Volt currently manufactures two high-tech solar tile models. However they are only compatible with select tile products from Bristile Roofing’s range.
Nulok solar tiles
Nulok is a roofing company that offers two solar tile products. Because the company’s solar tiles are part of the wider Nulok roofing system, they can only be incorporated into new, or existing, Nulok slate or tile roofs.
Tractile solar tiles
Tractile is another roofing company that only offers solar tiles as part of its entire roofing system. Tractile’s range of solar tiles also comes with the option of an integrated solar hot-water system, which boosts the amount of electricity the tiles can produce by up to 12%.
Of these three companies, only one has an NZ website, Nulok, but, again, it's not a common roofing system used here in Aotearoa.
Should I install solar tiles or solar panels?
The answer, really, should be, how deep are your pockets? While you could probably have the technology imported from Australia and installed on your home, the cost is sure to be excessive, and would provide no greater cost savings on your power bill than those offered by conventional solar panels.
