Strauss Stima Tile

The Stima Tile is a BIPV product composed mainly of a roofing tile and an embedded photovoltaic panel. The tile element is made from a mix of ceramic and plastic and the solar cells are embedded on tempered glass. This product comes in various shapes, sizes and colors to fit households, office premises, warehouses, carports stadiums, and markets. The tiles can either be added onto a new structure or else placed on an existing roof if it is a sufficiently straight and even surface. If a new structure is used, the tiles must be installed onto appropriately spaced and sized battens. Because of the difference in the dimensions between the Stima Tile and conventional roofing tiles, structural battens need to be spaced accordingly with the respective Stima Tile in use.

A system solar photovoltaic circuit is completed with an array of 12 interconnected units of Stima Tiles that are connected to inverters, charge, and system controllers that are also connected to batteries or a compressed air hydraulic energy storage. Users can opt to add a smart-grid system to monitor each tile’s performance. The manufacturer estimates that approximately 1/3 of roof coverage is enough to power a whole house.

The units of this product come in four different sizes:

• 8W – 443x320mm
• 24W – 642x320mm
• 50W – 1055x420mm
• 150W – 1532x700mm

Provided by the manufacturer. Strauss Energy has solar certified technicians in-house.

50-year warranty on roofing element and 25 years on electrical components.

A case study carried out by Heinrich Böll Stiftung on the Gaitheri Secondary School Solar PV Roof, Strauss Energy first proof of concept project, showed that since the installation of solar power, the school enjoys uninterrupted power supply which enables the teachers to offer computer classes for extended hours unlike before when they had to rely on the intermittent grid power.

Testing carried out by Strathmore Energy Research Center (SERC) on the performance characteristics of six  8W BIPV modules connected in a string determined a PV string power of 50.45 W and PV power per module of 8.41 W at Standard Test Conditions (STC). SERC concluded that the performance at STC yielded more power by 5.1% of the rated but with higher temperatures, the efficiency greatly reduces to less power generation.

Workers may be exposed to the regular dangers of a construction site that include working at heights and with sharp tools. Precaution must be taken regarding electrical contacts or wiring, the person handling them must use adequate safety gear.

If too much pressure is applied to the photovoltaic panel, the device might break and cause bodily injury or electrical shock.

Minor risk of burns exists due to the heating of the photovoltaic panel’s surface by the sun.