If aesthetic concerns are keeping you from buying some solar panels to stick on your roof, Stafier's expansion into photovoltaics may be of interest. As phrases go "support system" is about as exciting as sniffing cardboard, but though that is what this is, the upshot is that the solar panels are more or less flush to the surrounding tiles, keeping your roof's even apperance.
Though they appear to be extremely thin PV panels, they are in fact set into the roof, replacing the tiles that were there. The Dutch company claims the system works with more or less any sort of roof, and uses aluminum sheets to create a seal between your solar panels and ordinary tiles. A panel the size of four tiles can generate up to 55 W of electrical power.
According to Red Dot, which recently gave Stafier a design award for the product, the system has been tested under rainstorm conditions in a wind tunnel and found to be weatherproof (you'd hope, wouldn't you?). A ventilation system built into the rear of the tile helps keep them cool, as though PV panels like light, heat actually compromises their efficiency.
