Firm Blends Rooftop Solar Panels Design

Lots of companies make solar power devices, but few make ones even architects can love.

That, however, is changing, thanks to "building-integ rated photovoltaic" design, meaning the solar apparatus is functionally a part of the structure and integrally a part of the design. The other, more usual situation is that the photovoltaic, or PV, panels are tacked on to the building and look like it.

Atlantis Energy Systems Inc., a proponent of the integrated approach, produces both "solar slates" and custom modules that can be made to an architect's specifications.

The owner of the company is Frank Pao, an ex-IBMer who also owns Business Systems Technology nearby, a supplier of materials to this business.

Atlantis leased about 15,500 square feet of space at the Page Industrial Park in the Town of LaGrange and began installing equipment in February, plant manager Carl Sitler said.

Eleven people work at the site, and Sitler is hoping demand will create the need for more.

The "Sunslates" aren't really slate. But they look somewhat like slate roofing and are applied by a roofer in a manner similar to slate, being hung from nails that go into strips of wood across the roof. The 16-inch by 29-inch modules link up electrically, with each one producing up to 13.3 watts. Not only do the Sunslates generate power, they a