Mitsubishi Develops Rooftop Solar Unit to Supply 65% of a Household's Energy Needs

The Seven Ryoju Estate Group Companies, including Ryoju Estate Co. of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries group, recently announced that they have developed a rooftop unit called the "Eco Sky Roof," which combines photovoltaic generation and solar heat recovery, in cooperation with OM Solar Co., and will start selling it from the middle of October 2009.

The product combines a tandem solar panel and solar system, which secures an air-flow path between the solar panel and the roof surface. Using the flow air, it recovers heat from the solar panel side, generating electricity and hot air. By recovering the heat, it can then be used for household heating and hot water supply. The rise of temperature at the back of the solar panel is limited, and generating efficiency is likely to be reduced very little.

Considering that the use of solar heat at the installation space for the solar energy generation unit, which has an output of three kilowatts, the product can supply the energy equivalent of four kilowatts of solar battery and improve the use efficiency of solar energy. During the test, it was verified that 65 percent of energy consumption in each household could be replaced by solar energy.

The group has designed the unit so that housing contractors can easily install the Eco Roof system, and they aim to expand the sales to 500 households, mainly to new homes during fiscal year 2010.

Posted: 2009/10/11 06:00:15 AM

TAG Eco-product/Business , Energy , Manufacturing industry