Solar Tile Roofs for Google Buildings in Silicon Valley

One of Google’s newest buildings is using a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product called Dragonscale, which is manufactured by European solar panel company SunStyle. The internet giant has installed around 7 MW of the product on two buildings at its Silicon Valley campus. The 90,000 individual solar panels will generate enough electricity to cover around 40% of the electricity used in the buildings, known as Bay View and Charleston East. The solar cells are a standard monoPERC (monocrystalline passivated emitter and rear cell) product. The panels connect with a standard MC-4 type connector and use industry standard solar inverters. A wood lattice substructure is the common roofing technique used in Europe. This allows for solar panels to be better used as building material. In the United States, this lattice substructure would be the rafters located under a plywood base. The warranty covers the product’s ability to generate electricity as well as its integrity as a building material. The shingles are guaranteed to last 30 years. Energy output is guaranteed to remain above 90% of its rated efficiency after 10 years, and above 80% after 25 years.