Onyx Solar has collaborated with Butech, Porcelanosa’s subsidiary focused on materials and constructive systems development, in the creation of the first PV pavement which is expected to come out into the market by the end of the year. This innovative product was introduced at Porcelanosa’s Annual Show and turned out to be one of the main attractions of the fair, the largest ever in terms of attendees.
This cutting edge system, which is still in an early development stage by Onyx and Butech engineers, is made by a solar PV glass integrated over elevated ceramic and it´s completely walkable. One of its main atractives is the variety of uses and the fact that it is posible to place furnishing on it without losing space, as it happens when a conventional PV panel are installed.
This PV pavement is a really appealing product for architects as it can be integrated in any Project and environment without renouncing design and aestheticism. What is more, it combines pasive elements (avoided CO2 emmissions) with active elements (power generation) reducing remarkably the building impact on the environment.
But the PV pavement is not the only Project in which Onyx Solar is woring alongside Porcelanosa’s subsidiary. At the Show the visitors could see the PV façade developed by both companies which, unlike the pavement, is already available and being installed in projects all over the World.
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20 Comments
very interested. what is projected price of tile. any info you could send me would be helpful.
Hi Chris. Thank you for getting in touch with us. However, as it’s on R&D stage we can not give you a estimated price, not even a ballpark. I think it won’t be in the market this year so I suggest you to check out this blog and our webpage in order to be up to date until we have further news.
Soy Española pero trabajo en Malasia y China, nos interesa mucho su producto de pavimentos fotovoltaicos y el nuevo que nos han enviado por email que es además de fotovoltaico, iluminable. Nos gustaria saber si ya saben precios y tamaños de las baldosas-placas.
Muchas gracias,
Pilar
Keep me up dated. Would like to see its progress and use in India.
You should subscribe yourself to this blog so you are always up to date. We will announce all the developments here.
Brilliant! … applications unlimited, please keep me informed.
Thank you Bob…you should subscribe to our blog as we post here all our latest developments.
Amazing, why dont you open dealership in Indonesia,we have all time sunshine every year. I hope our stupid government here open their eyes cause Sun Energy more potensial than even Nuclear energy, I mean in safety side.Prima!
Thank you! We love hearing people who enjoys with our solutions. At this moment we have no reprentation in Indonesia, but would love to work there. It depends on the architects and government willingness to install this kind of solutions. We totally can deliver projects in Indonesia and personally, I totally agree with the safety point. It’s a shame we humans need a disaster to happen like the one in Japan to realize we need to take care of the only planet we have.
excellent! but would they last as long as a trad pavement slab? what about settlement would the edges chip and lead to an expensive crumbling photovoltaic slab. what is the expected life time of the slab would they need maintanance? would relaying them be necessary. Think your idea is great but can see them being of limited use as i think they would be very expensive and fragile especialy in the scale they are required. will keep an eye on the web site as its a great concept.
Marcus, don’t forget we are talking about a glass. With PV cells, but a glass. At this point we can’t answer most of the questions as it’s in the laboratory, but we are doing progress and are very happy about the improvements. I think we will have news in the next months!
From looking at these PV paving blocks they do look similar to kaneka thin film panels which are high voltage low current panels. I use 14 of those kaneka panels and we have lived off the grid for just over 8 years with our off grid array still in good working condition.
These paving blocks do look like a great product and in my case if your company would be prepared I would be more than happy to test out say 3sq metres. I would make 3 tracker setups with 1sq metre on each tracker and log the output data over a set period which would give the best output the panels can produce. This would give an honest 3rd party assessment.
Regards Bryan
Hello Bryan,
We are still testing the tiles on the laboratory and the installation we have with Butech on the Spanish coast. We still don’t have any release date but will keep you posted through this blog. I now this is no news, but it’s all we can say at this moment.
Dear sir, Very good Idea, But I think, with this product, when our battery get full charged up to afternoon, then by PWM it will charge.
When this happen the paving blocks temperature will increase, then how people will walk also surrounding temp. may rise.
Dear Vijay,
Thank you very much for your comments. However, your assumption that the system is connected to a battery is not right in most of the cases, although sometimes it could be connected to a storage system. Secondly, the thermal dispersion was an issue during the development of this product (although it has nothing to do with the batteries) and this is in fact one of the greatest problems we have solved adding value to this product. I hope this helps you and in case it doesn’t, do not hesitate to let me know.
Otherwise marvellous but will this not get too hot to walk…
I would like to consider specifying these products
We are very happy to hear that. Let us know how can we help you!
Very interesting, as an architect I can use these products as a buildng envelop, roof covering and decor accents. The energy produce can be use to generate enough energy fot use on AC systems and major appliances. Does the product comes in obscure colors only and what are the available material thickess?…excellent job.
A very interesting product!
Any updates and on the development progress?
Maybe some time to marktet estimations?
Appreciated!
Keep up the good job
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