4 ms·

Shame.. I've seen one of these in person on a high-end home and its a very nice looking product. I assume the lifespan would be similar to a metal roof.

by t1234s 5mo ago

t1234s 5mo ago
Regular solar panels work well but are an eyesore on a nice home.
- pbmonster 5mo ago
  There's a third way: in-roof or roof integrated photovoltaics. Normal panels, but integrated into the roof. Those look amazing. Very popular in Switzerland where some villages have strict aesthetic rules for buildings. Next best thing aesthetically are full-roof racks, where one face of the roof is 100% covered in panels. Nowadays you just have to select the right panel and you can make it tile the plane perfectly.
  - tln 5mo ago
    Don't you need fire setbacks? I didn't think full roof racks were possible
    - pbmonster 5mo ago
      Building codes on that are going to vary locally. They are doable in most of Switzerland if you plan for it: no sky lights, no chimney (there's setbacks and fire codes for those), ect.
      - tln 5mo ago
        I thought the IFC International Fire Codes were a bit more ubiquitous than they are. Apparently whole roof is possible in a few EU countries. Probably not a good idea for the stick-built houses prevalent in US though Thanks for sharing
  - lefra 5mo ago
    The previous owner own my house installed these (it was mandated by law here at the time). About 90% of the time they leak after about 10 years, and mine did. I had to have the installation re-done over the roof.
  - bradley13 5mo ago
    Yep, that's exactly what we did with our new house in Switzerland (a few years back).
- Marsymars 5mo ago
  A subjective eyesore shouldn't stop them from getting installed if they're functional. I tend to think garages are an eyesore, and yet, basically everyone (including me) wants one included with their home.
  - batiudrami 5mo ago
    Similarly the real eyesore in neighbourhoods is all the cars and the assorted infrastructure dedicated to them. 40% of Australian households have rooftop solar. You get used to the look very quickly, and well-installed ones look perfectly fine.
    - jofzar 5mo ago
      It's so common for me I literally don't think I see them anymore (because it's just part of the roof) I know they are on every second house, but gun to my head I could not tell you how many have it on my street.
  - rob74 5mo ago
    ...and don't get me started about all those tin cans with wheels parked all over the place outside of garages! I consider myself lucky to have several windows in my apartment where I usually don't see one of those eyesores when I look out of it...
- anthomtb 5mo ago
  Eyesore? Maybe on well architected multimillion dollar custom homes. On the average suburban tract home in my corner of the USA, panels are no more ugly than the shingled roofs they sit atop.
  - youngtaff 5mo ago
    I’ve never understood why so many houses in the US have felt shingles rather than a longer lasting alternative Tiles on my house are at least 150yrs old
    - grosswait 5mo ago
      Economics. No one lives 150 years, so why pay for someone else’s roof when you’ll be making payments for so long.
      - IshKebab 5mo ago
        Someone else suggested that you have to replace your roofs every 25 years though. People definitely live for 25 years!! Also even if you personally don't live that long, it does affect the value. For example a 99 year lease on a property is considerably less valuable than a 999 year lease, even though very few people live more than 99 years.
        AngryData 5mo ago
        25 years is common but most places allow 2 or 3 shingle overs that don't require a tearoff. They just slap a naked layer of new shingles over the old which is even cheaper than the first roof/layer.
      - youngtaff 5mo ago
        You're not paying for someone else's roof… it forms part of the house value when you sell Given shingles last between 20-30 years someone's got to pay the cost of re-roofing on a regular basis throughout the house's lifetime Then you've got the added maintenance, flammability and other downsides of a shingle roof to take into account too
- dzhiurgis 5mo ago
  I can hardly see my panels even if i wanted to
- thelastgallon 5mo ago
  When it comes to eyesores, there is nothing worse than garage door(s). The front of the house is mostly a massive ugly garage door. I don't see people ever not having a garage because its an eyesore and it is right in front of you, can't avoid looking at it. Roof stays out of sight unless you want to look at the roof. Americans come up will all kinds of ridiculous reasons for not using clean energy. 1) Nuclear is dangerous, even though it has the safest profile of all energy: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-energy-production-per-twh https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-energy-p... 2) Also, we are now bird lovers! Wind turbines killed 2 dozen birds (but cats kill billions of birds). Wind is also an eyesore. Ruins the views from $_. 3) Solar is an eyesore. 4) Electric cars don't work in the cold. (lets ignore Norway, a tropical island) 5) Range anxiety, because I might drive from Florida to Wyoming.
  - theultdev 5mo ago
    Hey cool this is like those myspace surveys. Let me participate. 1. I support nuclear, really stupid not to use anything else. Blame politicians and the hippies. 2. Yeah wind imo is useless, and it's more than 2 dozen. Quite high, I don't think comparing kills to the top predator is a win. Also windmills are in raptor's paths, generally cats don't eat raptors. Noisy and ugly too. 3. Solar is nice, will use it as aux, but panels and batteries don't come close to a propane generator. Different use-cases. 4. I own a cybertruck and a trailboss, but it's Texas, can't really speak to cold weather ev experiences. 5. Owning an EV I know how they work, anxiety no issue, just hop free SCs and enjoy the ride. Bonus: Garage doors can look stupid if it's the entire front of the house, like those mcmansions, but can be subtle with a long ranch house for example. Solar panels always look awful on a roof.
    - NicuCalcea 5mo ago
      Solar panels may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they're fine, you get used to them. I think windmills look cool as shit. But then I think cybertrucks are one of the ugliest things created by man, so I guess the point is we each have our own taste.
themafia 5mo ago
> high-end home and its a very nice looking product That might just be another way of saying "niche."

Shame.. I've seen one of these in person on a high-end home and its a very nice looking product. I assume the lifespan would be similar to a metal roof.

by t1234s 5mo ago

Shame.. I've seen one of these in person on a high-end home and its a very nice looking product. I assume the lifespan would be similar to a metal roof.

t1234s 5mo ago

Regular solar panels work well but are an eyesore on a nice home.

pbmonster 5mo ago
There's a third way: in-roof or roof integrated photovoltaics. Normal panels, but integrated into the roof. Those look amazing. Very popular in Switzerland where some villages have strict aesthetic rules for buildings. Next best thing aesthetically are full-roof racks, where one face of the roof is 100% covered in panels. Nowadays you just have to select the right panel and you can make it tile the plane perfectly.
- tln 5mo ago
  Don't you need fire setbacks? I didn't think full roof racks were possible
  - pbmonster 5mo ago
    Building codes on that are going to vary locally. They are doable in most of Switzerland if you plan for it: no sky lights, no chimney (there's setbacks and fire codes for those), ect.
    - tln 5mo ago
      I thought the IFC International Fire Codes were a bit more ubiquitous than they are. Apparently whole roof is possible in a few EU countries. Probably not a good idea for the stick-built houses prevalent in US though Thanks for sharing
- lefra 5mo ago
  The previous owner own my house installed these (it was mandated by law here at the time). About 90% of the time they leak after about 10 years, and mine did. I had to have the installation re-done over the roof.
- bradley13 5mo ago
  Yep, that's exactly what we did with our new house in Switzerland (a few years back).
Marsymars 5mo ago
A subjective eyesore shouldn't stop them from getting installed if they're functional. I tend to think garages are an eyesore, and yet, basically everyone (including me) wants one included with their home.
- batiudrami 5mo ago
  Similarly the real eyesore in neighbourhoods is all the cars and the assorted infrastructure dedicated to them. 40% of Australian households have rooftop solar. You get used to the look very quickly, and well-installed ones look perfectly fine.
  - jofzar 5mo ago
    It's so common for me I literally don't think I see them anymore (because it's just part of the roof) I know they are on every second house, but gun to my head I could not tell you how many have it on my street.
- rob74 5mo ago
  ...and don't get me started about all those tin cans with wheels parked all over the place outside of garages! I consider myself lucky to have several windows in my apartment where I usually don't see one of those eyesores when I look out of it...
anthomtb 5mo ago
Eyesore? Maybe on well architected multimillion dollar custom homes. On the average suburban tract home in my corner of the USA, panels are no more ugly than the shingled roofs they sit atop.
- youngtaff 5mo ago
  I’ve never understood why so many houses in the US have felt shingles rather than a longer lasting alternative Tiles on my house are at least 150yrs old
  - grosswait 5mo ago
    Economics. No one lives 150 years, so why pay for someone else’s roof when you’ll be making payments for so long.
    - IshKebab 5mo ago
      Someone else suggested that you have to replace your roofs every 25 years though. People definitely live for 25 years!! Also even if you personally don't live that long, it does affect the value. For example a 99 year lease on a property is considerably less valuable than a 999 year lease, even though very few people live more than 99 years.
      - AngryData 5mo ago
        25 years is common but most places allow 2 or 3 shingle overs that don't require a tearoff. They just slap a naked layer of new shingles over the old which is even cheaper than the first roof/layer.
    - youngtaff 5mo ago
      You're not paying for someone else's roof… it forms part of the house value when you sell Given shingles last between 20-30 years someone's got to pay the cost of re-roofing on a regular basis throughout the house's lifetime Then you've got the added maintenance, flammability and other downsides of a shingle roof to take into account too
dzhiurgis 5mo ago
I can hardly see my panels even if i wanted to
thelastgallon 5mo ago
When it comes to eyesores, there is nothing worse than garage door(s). The front of the house is mostly a massive ugly garage door. I don't see people ever not having a garage because its an eyesore and it is right in front of you, can't avoid looking at it. Roof stays out of sight unless you want to look at the roof. Americans come up will all kinds of ridiculous reasons for not using clean energy. 1) Nuclear is dangerous, even though it has the safest profile of all energy: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-energy-production-per-twh https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-energy-p... 2) Also, we are now bird lovers! Wind turbines killed 2 dozen birds (but cats kill billions of birds). Wind is also an eyesore. Ruins the views from $_. 3) Solar is an eyesore. 4) Electric cars don't work in the cold. (lets ignore Norway, a tropical island) 5) Range anxiety, because I might drive from Florida to Wyoming.
- theultdev 5mo ago
  Hey cool this is like those myspace surveys. Let me participate. 1. I support nuclear, really stupid not to use anything else. Blame politicians and the hippies. 2. Yeah wind imo is useless, and it's more than 2 dozen. Quite high, I don't think comparing kills to the top predator is a win. Also windmills are in raptor's paths, generally cats don't eat raptors. Noisy and ugly too. 3. Solar is nice, will use it as aux, but panels and batteries don't come close to a propane generator. Different use-cases. 4. I own a cybertruck and a trailboss, but it's Texas, can't really speak to cold weather ev experiences. 5. Owning an EV I know how they work, anxiety no issue, just hop free SCs and enjoy the ride. Bonus: Garage doors can look stupid if it's the entire front of the house, like those mcmansions, but can be subtle with a long ranch house for example. Solar panels always look awful on a roof.
  - NicuCalcea 5mo ago
    Solar panels may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they're fine, you get used to them. I think windmills look cool as shit. But then I think cybertrucks are one of the ugliest things created by man, so I guess the point is we each have our own taste.

themafia 5mo ago

> high-end home and its a very nice looking product That might just be another way of saying "niche."