Solar panels often conjure up images of clumsy, dark sheets lined up in rooftop arrays on green homes and buildings. But what if they weren’t dark and clumsy — and what if they didn’t have to go on the roof? QSolar, the Canadian solar tech company that already brought us spray-on solar cells, has just released a new line of solar panels that are every bit as innovative. QSolar’s Kristal solar panels are available in an array of colors — red, green, blue, pink, grey — and they can replace windows or even walls, opening up new possibilities for green building design. Imagine your house with a colored solar panel atrium, or a pink and blue skylight mosaic set over your local library. How about a solar-powered desert cabin with green solar panel walls on every side, or a greenhouse made entirely of these innovative panels?

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QSolar’s colored Kristal solar panels are semi-transparent and rigid, but they do not include frames. According to Andreas Tapakoudes, President and CEO of QSolar, “QSolar’s Kristal panels address the Building Integrated Photovoltaic Market (BIPV) which is expanding at a very rapid rate in Europe. The availability of coloured panels creates an even larger potential market for us because the Kristal panels enable architects and designers to implement a wide variety of building applications.”

The panels are designed to meet structural requirements for walls while generating energy from the sun. We can’t wait to see where this goes – energy-generating covered bridges, canopies, or solar carports may well be on their way.

+ QSolar

Via Clean Technica