SolTech Energy, a Swedish company, was recently awarded “Hottest New Material 2010” at the trade fair in Stockholm Sweden. The company won the gold medal for designing a heating system that uses renewable energy and does not add to the greenhouse effect.
The system uses glass roof tiles installed on top of a black nylon canvas. The sun heats up the clean air trapped underneath and warms up the water connected to a home system. The system is designed to be used with water or air based systems. The only requirement is some form of central heating system.
The SolTech system generates an estimated 350 KW heat per 10 square foot, depending on conditions such as roof angle and climate. The heating system is continually working since the black nylon canvas absorbs the suns heat and the hot air stays trapped under the glass tiles and then circulates to the homes system.
The tiles are made of ordinary transparent glass and weigh about the same as clay tiles. A Portugal company now makes the glass tiles for SolTech. If a roof is not compatible with tiles, SolTech Energy also custom makes glass wall panels to capture the incoming sunlight.
