Solar sparks cheaper

German company promises ‘whole-house’ photovoltaics

It’s the stuff of dreams, a futuristic house where every external part is put to work as a miniature solar power plant.

A newly created German company aims to make the vision ‘whole-house’ photovoltaics an affordable reality by producing cheap, highly efficient photovoltaic modules. The semi-transparent thin film designs can be easily integrated into the entire façade of a building, including the roof, windows and walls.

Malibu is a joint venture between solar systems producer Schüco and energy giant E.ON. It aims to make photovoltaic technology appeal to a wider market – without the need for government subsidies.

If successful, the venture could help bring solar power within reach of the mainstream UK housing market, which until now hasn’t benefited from the kind of extensive subsidies offered to solar producers in Germany. There, a system of ‘feed-in tariffs’ obliges energy companies to buy green electricity produced by microgenerators at above-market prices. This makes payback times on solar investment much shorter than in Britain, and so has helped trigger a boom in the sector. – Anna Blackaby

 

19 September 2007

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