CENTRIA Believes Timing Is Right For Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Standing Seam Roofing Concept

	Laminated to the flat surfaces of the standing seam panels on this warehouse roof are Uni-Solar thin-film photovoltaic cells. One of the goals of CENTRIA Services Group is to make these types of integrated photovoltaic metal roof systems much more commonplace.

Moon Township, PA - After monitoring the market for the better part of a decade, CENTRIA’s Rick Mowrey and Mark Thimons began to see the signs they’d been watching for. The payback period for rooftop photovoltaic systems began coming down while the demand for sustainable design climbed. Those indicators provided the impetus for the launch of a new CENTRIA division and development of a new approach to combining solar technology and metal roofing. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, and operating under the leadership of industry veterans Mowrey and Thimons, CENTRIA Services Group was created to develop a standardized approach to thin-film laminate photovoltaic metal roof systems, and act as a facilitator to help metal roofing manufacturers throughout the industry offer these solar standing seam roofing systems to their customers.

For help with the development of the concept, which it calls Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), CENTRIA Services Group has partnered with United Solar Ovonic of Auburn Hills, MI. The company’s UNI-SOLAR® product is the leading peel-and-stick silicon solar panel on the market and has been used successfully on many metal roof projects, but never before has it been included as part of a widely marketed integrated system.

CENTRIA Services Group debuted its BIPV concept at METALCON International 2007 in Las Vegas in early October. At that time, Mowrey said he was targeting a large but select group of metal roofing manufacturers to become the initial licensees. Those who commit to the program will be able to market the concept under their own chosen brand names, but with enjoy the benefits of best industry pricing and complete marketing, sales and technical support. That support includes budgeting and ROI analytics with 24-hour turnaround time, and access to all leads generated through a soon-to-be-launched national advertising campaign.

Rick Mowrey (left) and Mark Thimons (right) are spearheading the solar standing seam metal roofing initiative for CENTRIA Services Group.

CENTRIA Services Group will also show manufacturers what they need to do production-wise to marry the photovoltaic laminates to the metal roofing panels under the controlled conditions of a factory setting, and provide suggested best practices for applying the same thin films in the field. If the CENTRIA Services Group idea catches on, and there’s no reason to think it won’t, 2008 could see a number of metal roofing manufacturers offering the systems.

Based in Pittsburgh (Moon Township, PA), CENTRIA Services Group, is a division of CENTRIA, an international company and one of the U.S.’s premier suppliers of architectural metal wall and roofing systems used in commercial/industrial projects. Since 1906, CENTRIA professionals have provided quality products and services for architectural and construction firms worldwide. For more information about CENTRIA call 412-299-8218 or visit www.centria.com.

United Solar Ovonic, LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER), manufactures and sells thin-film solar laminates that convert sunlight to energy using proprietary technology. Distributed globally under the UNI-SOLAR® brand, the company's products are ideally suited for cost-effective solar roofing solutions because they are lightweight, durable, flexible, can be integrated directly with building materials, and generate more energy in real-world conditions. For more information, please visit www.uni-solar.com (United Solar) and www.ovonic.com (Energy Conversion Devices).