Solar Thermal Roof

An entire closed-loop, serpentine solar-thermal-roof may be built with ½” copper pipes bonded to aluminum flashing and covered with glazing materials such as glass or polycarbonate, but once installed it will be difficult to maintain. Also remember, the copper used to collect and transfer heat into a heat storage system could get pricey. If you do decide to go with a large serpentine system you may want to consider using PEX although PEX will require a larger surface area for heat exchange.

This particular serpentine solar thermal roof would require 85 Copper pipes ½”x 10’. At a cost of $25 per pipe the cost of Copper alone would be more than $2,100. The finished roof wouldn’t look too bad but the final price tag for a commercially installed solar thermal roof heating and hot water system like this might run as high as $20,000.