Solvari’s Increased Solar Panel Sustainability vs Aluminum Technologies

Traditional Solar - aluminum intensive

Traditional residential solar installations consist of aluminum framed solar panels secured to an aluminum railed mounting system that is screwed to a roof. While this system is functional, it is material intensive as each layer of the system is designed as a self-supporting structure. This redundancy is inefficient and results in the use of ~13 lbs of aluminum per solar panel.

Energy intensive aluminum press

The Solvari Solar Panel Sustainability Solution - less material

The engineers at Solvari identified that the redundant support structures of residential solar systems are unnecessary and developed a more streamlined solution. By integrating the solar panel directly to the structural integrity of the roof, Solvari eliminates the need for independent support structures. The result is an innovative design that not only meets industry performance standards but eliminates aluminum entirely from the system, providing a more environmentally friendly and sustainable solution.

Energy intensive aluminum smelting and remelting operations

Sustainability Impacts - eliminating aluminum

Aluminum production is energy-intensive and often powered by fossil fuels. This results in significant carbon emissions from the mining, refining, smelting, and extrusion processes that are required to create the components that go into solar products. By offsetting ~13 lbs of aluminum with ~2 lbs of less energy intensive polymer, Solvari saves around 335 lbs of CO2 emissions per solar panel. This means that an average 8 kW residential Solvari system saves around 7,400 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions, GHG, per home, before the system is even turned on. This is roughly equivalent to a year’s worth of GHG savings from the solar system’s operation. Also, for context, if the entire 6.4GW annual residential solar industry were to transition to Solvari’s technology, the GHG savings from offsetting aluminum could be as high as 2,662,000 metric tons per year.

Learn more about the Solvari Advantage.

Energy efficient polymer molding machine