Roofless Roof
Concept
A low cost roof which instead of using standard roofing, uses PV panels that have a gutter system making the PV panels function as a water-tight roof. The advantage is using building-integrated PV to provide the water-tightness function typically provided by a standard roof. This is done while avoiding the cost of the standard roofing material, at $4/sf cost [1] This produces value in energy which pays back for the PV and roof cost in 2 years (2 year payback time for PV by value of electricity generated) - effective providing a free roof. The up-front cost is 2x that of standard roof (PV costs $8/sf [2]).
Requirements
- Water proof with PV
- Has allowance for temporary cover with any other material available, from sheet, mesh, flexible sheet, etc. Bamboo for temp shade.
- Fractal design: can be repaired in modules, doesn't require disassembly of surroundig modules to fix. To implement - think of rail - into which the flanges of PV insert.
From Architecture Part Library
Roofing detail for a 'roofless roof with solar panels', v2. - File:Roofless.fcstd.
Roofing detail for a 'roofless roof with solar panels'. v1. - File:Roofdete.fcstd.
Working Doc
