Beautiful flows - new solar modules for roofs and facades
Black and very technical: This is what a typical solar module looks like. Recently, architects and builders have had a wider choice and can integrate photovoltaics harmoniously into the building and the neighborhood. New electricity-producing building materials are being created.
The majority of Swiss roofs today have solar systems with mono- and polycrystalline cells based on silicon, the semiconductor material from which computer chips are also made. It is only recently that more and more solar cells wrapped in glass have been installed, especially on facades – long known from pocket calculators and other solar-powered devices. In 2016, architect René Schmid was commissioned by the Umwelt Arena to clad the entire façade of an apartment building in Brütten (ZH) that is not connected to the power grid with thin-film modules and specially treated the glass modules so that they appear only dull in sunlight to passers-by and motorists.
Tour of the Schönvoltaik district
While Schmid still had to research and develop at the time, solutions are now being established that mask the flaw of all solar cells – even the classic, highly efficient monocrystalline type. Literally, namely with colored, textured or printed glasses over the solar cells. Even transparent or terracotta-colored roof tiles with integrated solar cells can be produced. But other new technologies also ensure beautiful electricity on the building.