AUTOMOTIVE 'DNA' - PRODUCTS
Similar in concept to the composite underbody shield/panel installed on European and Asian cars, the COSMOS™ frameless structural support system is molded from tough automotive-grade composites warranted to provide an outdoor service life of 25+ years. And thanks to the design flexibility possible only with plastics, maintenance-free aesthetics and a high degree of functional integration have been designed in from the start, providing a thinner, lighter, lower-cost PV module that can be installed much faster. We believe it will shortly revolutionize roof-mounted solar PV arrays.
Our COSMOS™ module system has been carefully designed to address problems with conventional PV systems. It takes full advantage of automotive “lightweighting” strategies and functional integration to bring greater value to all members of the solar PV supply chain — PV module manufacturers, module installation companies, building owners, and investors.
| Anatomy & Physiology Central to the COSMOS™ module’s design is a thin (2-mm/0.08-inch) glass PV laminate that is integrally bonded to the composite module base, forming a strong box structure that eliminates the need for an external frame and reduces weight by 50% or more. This helps the new system achieve a low roof load of less than 10 kg/m2 (2 lb/ft2). Owing to a much flatter installation angle (5º – 10º), shadowing of units further back in an array is greatly reduced, allowing rows of modules to be placed much closer together — on the order of 0.3-m (1-ft) apart rather than 0.6-1.5-m (2-5-ft) apart. Although the shallower angle is considered “less efficient” at generating energy on a per-module basis, the fact that more modules can be installed per unit area leads to a reduction in the cost per watt of energy generated and shorter payback time on the investment. In fact, this represents a fundamental shift in philosophy for the solar industry. |
