Check out these new plug-and-play foldable rooftop solar panels

German manufacturer Kopp has launched a foldable, four-panel solar rooftop system that comes with everything it needs for installation in reusable transport boxes.

The foldable rooftop solar panels are preassembled at Kopp’s facility in Kahl am Main. The panels are called SmartFlex, and they consist of four fold-out PV modules and come with module carriers, ballast material, cables, and building protection in reusable boxes, thus reducing packaging waste.

The SmartFlex module is approximately 6.8 square meters (73 square feet) when unfolded and has an output of 1.6 kilowatt peak. The modules can be connected together easily, without anchoring on the roof, with one tool. 

Kopp says installation is quick. A crane lifts the foldable rooftop solar panels out of their delivery boxes onto the roof, and they only need two solar technicians to unfold them and connect them to each another.

Kopp says its SmartFlex system can “easily” withstand strong winds and other extreme weather as a result of the ballast material that comes with the panels.

Check out Kopp’s video below that shows how the foldable system gets installed. Even if you don’t speak German, it’s a good way to understand how it works. We think it’s pretty clever.

Read more: This Texas solar farm’s panels will sit flat on the ground

Photo: Kopp

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