The beauty of invisible solar

The roof of the building on Weststrasse that houses the head office of Schutz & Rettung Zürich, which operates the city’s emergency services, was renovated last winter. Working with the specialists from SunTechnics Fabrisolar in Küsnacht, the client sought a suitable solar power solution. The original plan was to install solar panels on top of the roof, but the client eventually opted for a pilot project using a colored solar solution integrated into the roof structure. As a result, one of the largest colored solar roofs in Europe was constructed in central Zurich.

Functional and aesthetic panels

The project was the first ever to combine the tried-and-tested solar roof system made by 3S Solar Plus in Thun, which has been on the market for 20 years, with the color technology offered by Solaxess one of CSEM technology start-up. The solar roof thus replaces tiles in terms of color as well as function. “The tile color ‘Terracotta Rust’ is just one of many available with MegaSlate Flair. Even complex roof shapes are not a problem. We take measurements on site, and then the roof is totally covered in no time at all,” says Dr. Patrick Hofer-Noser, owner and CEO of 3S Solar Plus. This roof unites the robust MegaSlate system with a color innovation from CSEM’s research and development center.

A high level of collaboration

“We have been working with Solaxess for many years to achieve unique levels of viability and reliability for color film technology. 3S Solar Plus, with its experience and unrivaled high-level manufacturing operation in Thun, was an ideal partner to manufacture the solar building components for this truly remarkable solar architecture project!” explains Christophe Ballif, Director of CSEM’s PV Center.

The development of the technologies by Solaxess, CSEM and 3S Solar Plus is supported by Innosuisse and the EU Be-smart project.