SOLAR ROOF ENERGY

Solar Roofs the Next Big Thing in Mexico
By Tomás Sarmiento

Solar roofs and the onset of a growing market for distributed energy generation will become the next big thing in Mexico after the country publishes this week the last rules required to promote smaller scale solar PV in the country, said Guillermo García Alcocer, President Commissioner of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), during his presentation at Mexico Energy Forum 2017 at Mexico City’s Sheraton María Isabel on Wednesday.

García Alcocer foresees that the new rules could provide a big push to the sector, taking the number of solar roof contracts in the country from about 21,000 now to about 286,000 in the next few years. Growth, he said “will be dramatic.” The new rules will allow for shorter times for approval by authorities, and the government is also looking into the possibility of offering government credits both to households and companies to help with the adoption of these systems, he added.

This new development, he said, follows on Mexico’s successful first two energy generation tenders in 2016, where solar technologies offered some of the world’s most competitive prices without requiring subsidies, showing the technology’s maturity. García Alcocer added that current developments in the field of energy storage and batteries, a much needed requirement to reduce the uncertainty related to solar power’s intermittency, are “on the right track.”

Solar roof tiles take advantage of solar energy and act similar as standard solar panels. 110 Giellenergy-Tile Standard pieces generate 1KWp, and 55 Giellenergy Ultra generate 1KWp. Both type of products, solar tiles and solar panels, technically convert the sun's light in to usable solar energy using N-type and P-type semiconductor materials. When sunlight is absorbed by solar roof tiles, the solar energy hits the electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the integrated solar component material in the solar roof tile to produce electricity.