Solar can be intrusive. Many of the current systems have bulky equipment that takes up a lot of space and that can be considered unattractive even to the point that some homeowner associations actually ban them.
But it isn’t just vanity driving that call, it’s also the use of space. In many cases there isn’t room to install solar panels because of the space needed by the hardware.
Panels also can be limited by the performance of the technology, meaning they have to be installed in a manner to receive direct sunlight, most often westward-facing to receive the strength of the afternoon sunlight.
This is where an innovative approach steps in.
“What would you do if you could embed solar technology in products that see the sun,” asked Susan Stone, the CEO at startup Ubiquitous Energy. “It leads to lots of application space. You can embed solar in a building material because it’s just a coating.”