Many people have asked the question why solar panels on roofs have to look quite so much like solar panels. The answer seems to be: They don’t.

At the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL last month (May), Solar Slate exhibited a photovoltaic cell that blends in nicely with natural slate roofing.

It is called Solar Roof, which brings together the experience and innovation of PV Systems and RES, a renewable energy developer with a subsidiary, PV Systems, that has installed more than 1,000 solar powered systems across the UK and Europe.

Solar Slate embodies the usual benefits of solar power, including the Feed-In Tariff, yet overcomes some of the obstacles met by most installation processes because Solar Slates are installed in the same way as conventional roofing slates. They are secured with roofing hooks on a roof built as normal, to batten level, with a gauge of 205mm. The only stipulation is that the electrician installing the system must be MCS accredited.

Solar Slate has won the ‘Product Innovation of the Year’ Award in the Low Carbon Performance Awards of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering.