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Bulky and obtrusive rack-mounted solar panels may be a thing of the past.
Spurred by recent advances in technology, solar panel makers are scrambling to come up with neater and cleaner products that will overcome the aesthetic objections of home owners to traditional solar panels.
They are building their technology directly into different kinds of roof tiles, hiding them in walls and lining the tops of patio awnings with them.
"Bottom line, people don't want goofy looking roofs," said Julie Blunden of solar panel manufacturer SunPower Corp.
SunPower is making solar panels designed to work seamlessly with flat or California-style curved roof tiles.
Lumeta, a division of DRI Energy, has similar integrated panels in the final stages of industry certification.
Both SunPower's and Lumeta's panels are made using a new material called copper indium gallium selenide, which promises much thinner panels that are easier to hide.
Although thin film is a relatively new technology, John Langdon of thin-film start-up HelioVolt said he expects it to dominate residential use as it becomes part of the building process.
"Solar power today is where air conditioning was in 1950 — everything is a window unit designed for retrofit on existing construction — its more expensive, its not as good, its not as a cost effective," Mr. Langdon said. "But by 1960 no one built a building without saying 'Should I put a central air system in?' — and the same thing is going to happen with solar."
Until recently, solar panels were about six inches thick and mounted with brackets on top of existing roofs or custom designed racks.
But the solar industry is beginning to recognize aesthetics as one of the last barriers to solar power in the residential market.
"At first you don't even notice they're solar," said Tony Fortenberry, who bought a home in Rockland, California, in September with solar panels manufactured by SunPower on its roof.
"The tiles are completely integrated into the roof," Mr. Fortenberry said.
Although such aesthetic designs are more expensive than the rack-mounted systems, they appear to make sense in new developments, where reduced installation costs and less-invasive designs can help convince builders and prospective buyers of the merits of solar power.
According to SunPower's Ms. Blunden, the solar business is dependent on builders, who must be convinced that it is cost-efficient and that buyers will like the way they look.
In the United States, a typical market price for retro-fit add-on systems is about $8 per watt, split roughly equally between hardware and installation. This translates into about $40,000 for a 5 kilowatt system, before government subsidies and reimbursements.
Another product, Lumeta's PowerPly, which has adhesive backing, eliminates the need for a rack-mounted systems and can reduce installation costs by about 70 per cent.
