PV - Atlantis SunSlates®
Sunslates® are a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) product manufactured by Atlantis Energy Systems, Inc. The company offers two product lines ~ Sunslates® PV roofing slates and Custom PV glass laminates.

Sunslates® allows the roof of your home to serve as both a roof and a power plant simultaneously. A typical installation of 216 Sunslates® (about 300 square feet) will cover from 60 to 80% of your power needs. SolSource will work with an experienced roofer to install the Sunslates.

Custom Glass Laminate Solutions

Custom glass panels can be built to meet any client’s need. They consist of PV cells contained within a "glass sandwich"; a layer of glass, a layer of PV cells and another layer of glass. The possibilities of this product are nearly endless. It can be been used as a facade, an entire roof, a skylight, an atrium or even as an artistic installation.

All or only a portion of your south-facing roof can be covered with SUNSLATES. The However a southwest or southeast roof can also be used, and will have a negligible reduction in power production (2-4%). The Sunslates use an overlapping system, much like a shake roof where there are two layers at any point on the roof. This is the way the system sheds water. Sunslates need at least a 4/12 (18 degree) roof pitch in order to shed water properly.

Sunslates are based on a Swiss company known as Eternit, which produces the fiber cement slate that Sunslates are based on. The Swiss Eternit system is well known in Europe and has been used for around 60 years with great success.

The SUNSLATES roofing system is UL Class A fire rated and rated to 120 mph wind speeds. SUNSLATES systems have been installed successfully in nearly all environmental extremes. The SUNSLATES actually cause the snow to slide off due to the tempered glass surface.

The Sunslate mounting system is fully compatible with any other roof, be it tile, shake, metal or composite. You do not have to finish the entire roof with the Swiss Eternit slates. All other areas of the roof can remain the same in an add-on, or you can choose your style of roof in new construction or a re-roof.

A Sunslates roof starts with standard 30# tar paper felt as used on any other roof. Sunslates are then mounted on the roof deck using a series of vertical 2 X 2 boards over the rafters (usually 2' on center), and a series of horizontal 1 X 4 boards nailed to the 2 X 2 boards at about 12" spacing. Hooks are then nailed to the 1 X 4 boards and the slates actually hang on these. This spacing off the roof creates a plenum, which allows airflow underneath the slates, which cools the slates and helps increase performance.

SUNSLATES are grouped in "strings" of 24. Each string has a "home run" cable that runs down into the attic to a junction box. On most roofs, these cables go through a single roof penetration at the top center of the roof area. When the roofers have finished their part, all of the cables will be waiting in the attic for the electrician. The electrician then goes into the attic and splices the cables to the cable runs to the inverter, which is generally mounted in the garage or on an exterior wall near the meter.