Energy Roof

A metal structure that is very light and easy to assemble, which is installed by forming juxtaposed pyramids with a square base, with equidistant nodes 2.5 metres.

The structure is formed using very few different components, which can easily be stacked and transported and have very simple packaging.

The structure is supported on the building’s columns or on pillars specially built for the purpose. The distance between pillars must be whole multiples of the distance between nodes. The design allows for it to be extended across several buildings, improving the earthquake resistance of the set of buildings.

The photovoltaic panels are fitted on the roof of the structure with the slant suited to the latitude and the orientation of the place.

The wind turbines are self-steering with an individual power rating of 3 kW and they are supported on the upper nodes of the structure, maintaining the advisable distances between each other based on the orientation of the prevailing winds.

The energy accumulation and management systems are designed based on the specific requirements of the installation.

The energy roof can provide electricity at a large number of locations:

Existing buildings (housing, hotels, shopping centres…). The great building flexibility of the structure allows for it to be adapted to the building, regardless of its shape or size.

New buildings, whatever their intended use. If the buildings are designed to accommodate the energy roof, the utmost simplicity and economy in the design will be achieved.

Covering of open spaces (streets, neighbourhoods, sports centres, ponds, parks, parking lots, landfills…)

Power supplies to isolated locations: By adequately sizing the accumulation systems based on the evaluation of the available resources and the expected energy demand curve, we can provide solutions for supplying isolated locations.

• Sustainable, as use is made of the renewable energies at the site, without polluting emissions.
• Self-sufficient: supplies the energy demand of the building and/or common areas.
• Self-financing, by selling energy surpluses to the electric distribution power grid.
• Lowers the energy deficit and emissions in the city.
• On-site generation, reducing electricity transmission losses.
• Reduces the need for large generation and transmission infrastructures, with their consequent environmental impacts.
• Allows for efficient energy management, so that the electricity provided for consumption, storage and supply of the power grid is adapted as appropriate.

In today’s world, the city is main consumer of energy and consequently the source of most polluting emissions.

Moreover, the energy consumption of cities requires the construction of large infrastructures for generating and transmitting the demanded energy. These infrastructures cause numerous environmental impact problems and also require huge amounts of financial resources and time for their construction.

ADES’s energy roof is intended to nip at the root of the problem, locating the electricity generation beside where it is consumed, and proportionally reducing energy transmission needs.

This solution not only allows the energy needs of the building or installation where the roof is installed to be covered, but also thanks to its capacity for increasing the capturing surface, it can generate surpluses that can be exported to the power distribution grid. This task is done by using the existing natural energy resources in the urban environment, without leading to polluting wastes or emissions.

Moreover, the installation can be designed with energy storage systems. Storage allows for accumulating surplus production during off-peak hours and dumping it onto the grid during peak hours, increasing the profitability of the installation.

The sizing of the energy generation components can be tailored to the potential of the specific site, making the wind or the photovoltaic energy prevail as may be desirable, as wind turbines can even be installed on top of the solar panels, thus increasing wind power potential and reducing photovoltaic potential.

The technical characteristics of the installation can also be adapted to the specific regulatory framework applicable at the site. It can thus be designed to sell all the production to the grid, after having met the demand of the host building, or to implement a true energy management system that contributes to reaching energy efficiency targets and to covering demand at peak times.

From the social point of view, the energy coverage levels are also adapted to the established requirements, allowing for the installation to be operated jointly or otherwise leaving the ownership of the different power generation elements to the different users in the building.

In this latter case, once the roof is paid off, the families that own the individual installations could obtain additional income derived from the sale of the electricity generated by their personal installation.

Another social angle of the energy roof could also be derived from the possibility of installing it at isolated locations, to provide the electricity needs of communities or economic activities far from the electric grid. This application has a direct effect on improving the quality of life of the population at remote locations.

The qualities of this design allow for an enclosure to be installed suspended from the metal structure. With this a true integration between the roof and the building is achieved maintaining the same capacity of the roof for accommodating photovoltaic modules and wind turbines.

For sustaining the enclosure the lower nodes of the structure are used as anchoring points, and distances of up to 35 metres can be bridged, without intermediate supports.

The enclosure is curved and gabled to facilitate rain runoff. This curved design of the enclosure also improves the wind flows within the metal structure, improving the wind power generation of the assembly.

The edges of the enclosure have rain gutters installed on them with a V-shaped profile. The water that runs along the gutters converges at the top of the pillars that support the metal structure. These pillars are hollow, with the purpose of being able to act as downspouts for draining off rainwater to the sewers, through the related ground plate.

This layout of the energy roof with a suspended enclosure, allows for the energy capture to be optimised and for large spaces to be covered, sheltering them from bad weather.