Glass Magazine - Photovoltaic Skylights

pv Pioneers
Glass companies break into solar
Published by the National Glass Association
October 2011 | Vol 61 | Num 9 | GlassMagazine.com
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Early entrants to the solar installation
market share their perspective
2 Reprinted with permission from Glass Magazine, October 2011, Vol. 61, No. 9. ©2011, National Glass Association.
Left: Acralight International
Skylights completed a BIPV
canopy project at the Bay Area
Rapid Transit System station,
Union City, Calif. Onyx Solar
supplied the BIPV system.
By Katy Devlin
A
n increasing number of glass companies
are getting involved in various aspects
of the solar industry, from design and
installation of BIPV and rooftop arrays,
to product sourcing. “This is the future
of where glazing is going,” says Brendan
Dillon, director of product marketing, Pythagoras
Solar, http://pythagoras-solar.com. “Solar has been
developing over the last several years, and it seems
like a very logical extension of the glass industry. …
A lot of people are putting their toes in the water.”
Solar is a natural continuation of job responsibilities for glass installers,
Dillon says. Building integrated photovoltaics—PV materials used in place
of conventional products in the building envelope, such as in a skylight or
curtain wall—requires the same skills and installation techniques as traditional glass products. “Glaziers need to provide BIPV as they would any
other glass unit, and install it with the same trade labor using the same process,” he says.
Standard pre-framed PV modules, such as those used on rooftop arrays,
should also fall onto glaziers to install, says Steve Coonen, BIPV consultant
and principal, PV Glassworks, Grass Valley, Calif. “PV panels are mostly
glass, and they need to be handled properly, by a glazier,” Coonen says.
(For more about why glass companies should install solar panels, read
“BIPV gaining traction; Are you ready?” on Page 44 of the August 2011
issue, and “Closer look: Who should install solar panels?” on Page 10 of
the October 2010 issue.)
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3
I’ve seen activity
increase more in
the last six months
than in the last two
and a half years.”
Above: The Wal-Mart store in McKinney,
Texas, features about 10,000 square
feet of PV systems installed by Trainor
Solar. Wausau Window and Wall Systems
teamed with Solar Design Associates
and RWE Schott Inc. to provide the BIPV
systems.
Left: Enclos Corp. installed PV panels in
the building crown of the Riverhouse in
Battery Park City, New York City.
4 Reprinted with permission from Glass Magazine, October 2011, Vol. 61, No. 9. ©2011, National Glass Association.
Despite the still-soft solar market (see sidebar, “New market
hurdles” on Page 31), some contract glaziers already have several solar projects under their belts. Trainor Glass Co., www.trainorglass.com, for example, has completed two projects, is nearing
completion on a third, and has two more that are now underway, says Rick Hamlin, executive vice president, estimating and
design. “On all projects, we provided materials and installed systems—two were thermal systems [harnessing solar energy for
heat to use, for example, in water heating], two BIPV, and one
roof-mounted,” he says.
Glass and glazing companies report a sharp increase in interest among architects, and most expect more solar projects
to come to fruition as architects and building owners become
more familiar with the technology, and costs continue to go
down. “Architects are detailing with more BIPV applications,
and more of these applications are finding their way onto buildings,” says Eddie Bugg, director, Sustainable Solutions, Kawneer/Alcoa Building & Construction Systems, www.kawneer.
com. “The general erosion of PV pricing in the marketplace is
primarily driving these opportunities.”
John Juba, CEO and owner of contract glazier Juba Alumi-
num Products, www.jubaproducts.com, agrees that interest is
rising. Juba Aluminum developed the subsidiary PV Energy
Solutions, http://gopvenergy.com/, about two years ago. “We’re
designing and developing BIPV systems and rooftop units, as
well as solar in self-supporting structures, canopies and sunshades,” he says.
“We’ve been in conversations with multiple architects over
the last few years about incorporating PV panels into the wall
systems, curtain wall and window systems,” Juba says. “I’ve seen
activity increase more in the last six months than in the last
two and a half years. Looking at BIPV and large arrays, which
means commercial or institutional, we’re seeing more and more
on the boards and being budgeted. If the next five years continue like the last six months, glass companies will start to see solar systems on projects.”
Juba Aluminum/PV Energy Solutions completed a 10 kilowatt rooftop project and has about five projects in the planning stages. Gregg Haeberle, project manager at PV Energy Solutions, says, “I have two pre-construction projects on my desk
right now. We’ve been starting to see a lot more come in—three
or four in just the last month.”
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Officials from Acralight International Skylights, http://acralight.
com, also report growing interest in BIPV projects. “It has taken a
few years for solar to really get introduced to the market, but these
projects are starting to come to life. We’re seeing more and more
all the time, as people are becoming educated about BIPV,” says
Brendan Rogers, project manager. Acralight is working toward offering a complete turnkey solution for BIPV skylights and canopies; currently, the company offers BIPV systems and installation.
“We aren’t yet certified in designing and installing the electrical
portions, but we’re working [towards] that,” Rogers says.
Rogers says the move to solar was a natural one for the company, which has been designing, fabricating and installing custom
skylights for decades. “BIPV is becoming more common with
skylights. If you’re going to have a large skylight on the roof, you
might as well have solar capabilities,” he says. “The solar market
kind of fell into our laps, and we’ve been working toward educating installers and setting up courses so we can provide a full
product from beginning to end.”
Acralight has completed about a half dozen BIPV projects
since entering the solar market—all public projects, including
the Orange Terrace Library, Riverside, Calif., and most recently ,the Bay Area Rapid Transit System, Union City, Calif.
The BART project features more than 700 lineal feet of electricity generating skylights in two canopies, each about 330
feet long and 25 feet wide. “Originally, the architect had specified standard glass canopies, but they moved to BIPV panels,” Rogers says.
That mentality will help drive BIPV integration, Dillon says.
“If you’re going to use a window or skylight anyway, why not
make it BIPV?”
Glass companies are being proactive in promoting solar. Juba
Aluminum/PV Energy Solutions, for example, has been educating architects and building owners about solar potential on projects. “In every job that we quote, we look at the architectural design of the system and offer, as an alternative application, some
type of PV products within the building structure. We enhance
what we’re bidding,” Juba says. Additionally, Haeberle says the
company is working closely with municipalities to design solar
structures for existing buildings. “We have written grants with
them to help secure funding for these projects,” he says.
Enclos Corp., www.enclos.com, is also taking steps to promote
BIPV, reports Mic Patterson, director of strategic development.
The contract glazier provides customized BIPV solutions. “BIPV’s
day will come, and Enclos is trying to bring this day forward by
developing viable solutions of known cost and performance,”
he says. “We have had a research and development initiative in
place for several years, experimenting with different PV products
and their integration into our façade system.”
6 Reprinted with permission from Glass Magazine, October 2011, Vol. 61, No. 9. ©2011, National Glass Association.
Project opportunities
Looking on the solar horizon, glass companies report several areas of potential growth. One major opportunity for BIPV is in
the retrofit market, says Paul Simony, vice president of sales and
marketing, Acralight. “Increasingly, if an architect is looking to
replace glazing in a skylight, they are considering replacing the
glass with BIPV, so they can generate power as well,” he says.
Simony sees ample opportunities in the BIPV canopy market. “We’re seeing interest from the educational segment, from
schools that are looking to incorporate PV to reduce energy
costs. Out here in California, the schools have canopies over
walkways leading to the outdoor classrooms—the canopies provide shade, and with BIPV, energy,” he says. “We’ve also done
mock-ups for companies designing electrical vehicle charging
stations. These stations could be self-contained, with PV panels
generating enough power to charge vehicles.”
The homeowner market is also growing, Rogers says. “In the
next few years, we’re going to see a huge market for solar in the
residential segment, particularly in the custom home market,”
he says. “We’ll see homeowners integrating BIPV into the home
itself, in addition to canopies in their driveways.”
Juba Aluminum
Products’
subsidiary PV
Energy Solutions
installed a 10
kilowatt ballasted
rooftop solar
installation at the
Concord Realty
and Investment
Building in
Concord, N.C. The
system features 54
Schüco MPE 185
MS 05 Blackline PV
Modules, a Schüco
ezFlatroof 2.0 Flat
Roof Mounting
system, and three
SMA SB 3000US
inverters.
T
NEW MARKET HURDLES
hree major factors have
discouraged glass
installers looking to get
involved in solar, says
Steve Coonen, BIPV consultant
and principal, PV Glassworks,
Grass Valley, Calif.: Glass
companies are reluctant to work
with electricity; they don’t know
where to get solar products; and
projects with solar components
have been few and far between.
“Glaziers have the impression
that they need to know electrical
work,” Coonen says. “I think
that’s a major reason some are
not pursuing it as hard.”
John Juba, CEO and owner of
contract glazier Juba Aluminum
Products, www.jubaproducts.com,
agrees that the glazing industry’s fear
of the unknown has deterred many
companies from entering the market.
“Companies get into a rut and keep
doing the same thing. We saw people
being tentative when unitized wall
systems and point-supported glass
systems came into the market,” he
says. “However, we’ve come to a
crossroads in our industry. There is
an opportunity for companies willing
to go out and get the knowledge.”
Once companies become more
knowledgeable about the solar
systems, the electrical component
“becomes less scary,” says
Brendan Dillon, director of product
marketing, Pythagoras Solar,
http://pythagoras-solar.com.
Access to solar products has also
become easier during the last several
years as the market has evolved.
“In the past, this was a hindrance.
Companies would ask: do I have to
go to Europe, or Asia? They didn’t
know where to get the products,”
Coonen says. Today, “glaziers can
purchase solar products through
the standard channels. The world
has changed and companies like
[Kawneer Co., www.kawneer.com],
[Guardian Industries, www.guardian.
com] and [PPG Industries, www.ppg.
com] are getting involved,” he says.
One hurdle that does still remain
for glass companies looking to
enter the solar market is the lack
of projects. “We see very few
[projects] coming out,” says Mic
Patterson, director of strategic
development for Enclos Corp., www.
enclos.com. “We are fully prepared
and eager to provide BIPV solutions;
the only significant challenge as far
as we are concerned is demand,
which remains quite low.”
Patterson says low demand is in
large part due to concerns on the
developer’s behalf regarding cost
and maintenance. Additionally, “the
architects are reluctant to include
BIPV designs because of a lack
of familiarity with the technology,
and their own concerns regarding
cost and complexity,” he says.
Rick Hamlin, executive vice
president, estimating and design, for
Trainor Glass Co., www.trainorglass.
com, adds, “These projects seem
to go in phases. We will have a
spike in bidding BIPV in walls
or sunshades and canopies, and
then activity falls off. Many times
with solar, if there isn’t a desire,
directive or total customer buyin, there tends to be some sticker
shock—even more so with BIPV.”
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