From the company’s website
How it works
The Invisible Solar Rooftile is made by an unique indivisible piece, with a very high resistance, that hides and protects the photovoltaic cells that are incorporated inside.
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That is what I’m talking about:)
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I love the thinking, and this would be a great way to integrate this into buildings with traditional aesthetics. One of my clients really wants to get solar but he lives in a town with a covenant where all the homes must have tile roofs.
Tesla tried to do something similar with too shingles and it seems like it had a lot of problems from what I remember reading? I assume there are just so many connectors that there could be many many potential points of failure?
I’m really glad these are made from polymer instead of ceramic! When we lived in San Diego we had a tile roof… getting around that thing was so tricky, and step to hard and you smash right through the tile! Not to mention a traditional tile roof it is super heavy, they do reflect heat though.
We installed solar panels a little over a year ago. I wish they could make really large roof tiles, like if the solar panel could lay flat on the roof itself? Though I know they do benefit from the air gap underneath to help cool them, they perform better if they don’t get too hot which is maybe why they prefer the racked systems?
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I wish I’d made teh discussion title more general so that I could keep adding stories.
Here’s one that’s related and caught my eye
The star of Reefy’s portfolio is an elongated brick that is heavy enough to resist the force of the waves caused by Rotterdam’s ships. It was hydrodynamically designed to let the ocean water flow through it via a trio of holes. Much like a Lego brick, each of these blocks comes with round protrusions at the top so they can interlock with one another and be assembled in a vast array of configurations that will vary from one location to the next.
Naturally, the blocks are also designed to stimulate all kinds of biological growth like oysters and mussels and provide shelter for sturgeon and eel. Their surfaces are rough and rippled to help corals and bivalves grow on them more easily. And when stacked, the cavities that form between the blocks act as habitats for marine life. Rotterdam’s reef also includes two “eco-blocks,” which are smaller units that were placed between the larger blocks to function as a customizable habitat for local target species—“like an insect hotel,” says Ascencio.
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@Niti_Bhan you should be able to edit the topic title as the topic creator. If not I can do it for you.
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At the moment its saying that I don’t even have the right to delete the topic and not showing me the pencil for any edits - if you could edit it, I’d appreciate it. Maybe something like ‘planet oriented design’ ;p or whatever you think would suit such a stream of links
What do you think about: Novel Planet Oriented Product Design?
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The German company Dornbracht –founded in 1950 and specializing in bathroom, spa and kitchen fittings and accessories. Its Dornbracht ReCrafted program replaces old, used fittings through an efficient and circular logistics process. But what does it mean to recraft or remanufacture in this context?
From Disposability to Durability: A New Life for Timeless Design Objects | ArchDaily
Is this as innovative a design solution as the others I posted above in this thread? Or is this the mundane everyday type of circular and planet-centric design work we need as well?
Yeah, the article sounds like a ‘native advertising’ plug but the concept of remanufacture is catching on big over here in Europe and I just wondered what y’all thought about it?
The Dornbracht remanufacture process is carried out at the company’s own facilities in Germany and follows the following steps:
1. Disassembly: Parts are inspected and evaluated individually. All taps are dismantled into individual parts and the components can be restored or, if worn out, sent for recycling and replaced.
2. Coating removal: Components are placed in galvanic structures and valuable surface raw materials are recovered by an electrolytic process.
3. Sanding, polishing, brushing: The surface is restored through skillful manual work. Superficial imperfections are eliminated and the metal body is polished to obtain bright surfaces. For brushed surfaces, brush strokes are applied in accurately defined direction.
4. New coatings: From a raw material to a precious metal, the surface coating is applied manually through galvanization, and high quality metal surfaces are applied.
5. Laser marking: The restored product is unmistakably marked as an original Dornbracht ReCrafted with a laser beam.
6. Commissioning: Brand new functional components, such as mixer cartridges, streams and flow regulators are added to the piece.
7. Assembly and packaging: In the final step, the assembly includes a leakage and quality test, before the product is packed in an ecological packaging, accompanied by a certificate.
Its a topic I want to explore in my doctoral work. Look at this quote.
Michael Sieger, owner of Sieger Design and responsible for the design of various Dornbracht icons, says: “Good design means durability, means sustainability.” That is, its balanced proportions, precision accuracy and clean lines ensure that the products can remain relevant beyond short-term trends.
Its a 180 degree turn in statements on good design in the past 10 to 15 years. I could be wrong. Would love to get some thoughts on this trend.
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Introduction:
Overview of the Solarpunk World:
Phases of Solarpunk History:
Core Principles of Post-Industrial Design:
Packaging, and Living Without It:
Energy:
Modular Building Systems:
Domestic Goods:
Clothing:
Architecture and Housing:
Furnitecture:
Vehicles and Transportation Systems:
Computers and Communications:
Robots:
Plants and Farming:
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During his industrial visit to Khurja – a major ceramic production hub in India – he witnessed piles of ceramic industrial rejects thrown on the roadside outside the industries. Intrigued with the thought of this waste generated, Nimkar decided to address the challenge by turning the landfill waste into a patented re-useable material to make more durable and recyclable products.
TatvaMix reduces mining for natural resources by up to 60 per cent through recycling of post-industrial fired ceramic waste.
It is is 100% recyclable and vegan, and is food-safe.
This was his Design master’s thesis project at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad - I’m chuffed, I was the only woman in the graduate Product Design program and one of 2 in the entire Product Design stream (bachelors & masters).
I would just mention, that solar roofs have the same issue as thatched roofs, they can catch fire.
The solution is the same as for thatched roofs: plasterboard fireproofing. I would strongly recommend this. Especially with the small panel design, with many connections.
I do think there are designs that are one meter wide and 3 meter long glass sheets with solar panels, so for purpose-built buildings they might look really nice.
But still, a fire barrier beneath them.
Hexpressions is a product service innovation providing affordable, fast, modular and sustainable homes to all sections of the society using new-age sustainable construction material " Composite Paper Honeycomb Panel". The panel has two components - inner core ( paper honeycomb made with recycled paper) and outer face material ( cement board, wood, stone ).
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I started a whole tumblr just for this theme
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