Member Article

Russell Joins Forces with leading PV supplier      

Russell Roof Tiles has partnered with County Durham based leading UK solar manufacturer Romag to meet ongoing market demands for in-roof photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Russell Roof Tiles is a leading independent roof tile manufacturer; provide products for leading UK house builders and high profile social housing and commercial projects, where sustainability and eco-credentials are of the utmost priority.

The company has been working closely with Romag for the past six months. Romag manufacture one the best in-roof PV tile systems which Russell Roof Tiles can integrate with its family of tile profiles. A key driver to the partnership with Romag has been the integration of PV and concrete tiles which can be offered with a Russ Spec guarantee. Thus providing customers with a unique opportunity to benefit from a 15 year performance guarantee, using Russ Spec on a roof featuring Romag’s fully integrated PV tiles. It is a condition of the Russ Spec guarantee that specification is followed in detail, in accordance with the fixing specification and instructions.

Romag is the UK’s leading supplier of integrated PV and has over 11 years of PV manufacturing experience and expertise based at its state of the art manufacturing facility in County Durham. On both retrofit and new build projects the company’s products carry the acclaimed BSI Kitemark and are fully MCS certified, meeting the latest legislative requirements to claim Feed-in Tariffs.

Domestic PV projects have become an established part of the transition to a low carbon economy and 2013 was a record year for solar PV in the UK. It’s estimated around 2,000 units – new and retrofitted - are installed in the UK every week. Recent figures show that more than 500,000 homes now have solar panels, which is a significant given that in 2010 there were fewer than 15,000.

Russell Roof Tiles has been looking for some time at how it can further strengthen its sustainability credentials. This new partnership with Romag using its RI System means that Russell Roof Tiles offers a tried and tested product that works effectively across all its concrete roof tile and fittings ranges that meets the highest green specifications. Romag’s RI System has been developed for use on pitched roofs and has one of the highest power densities available on the market.

The PV tiles integrate into the roof rather than being mounted on top and is ideally suited for new builds or roofing replacement. It is attached straight to the roof battens and can be used with a wide range of conventional sloping tiled and slate roofs.

This announcement comes shortly after Russell Roof Tiles was accredited with BES 6001, demonstrating its sustainable development in the provision and procurement of construction products. BES 6001 is the internationally recognised ‘Framework Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products’ by the BRE (Building Research Establishment). Russell Roof Tiles was given a ‘very good’ performance rating according to the standard, meaning the company achieves maximum credits towards BREEAM and the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’.

Andrew Hayward Managing Director at Russell Roof Tiles added “There is no doubt that sustainability credentials in construction are vitally important. There continues to be a strong market for solar PV and these quality in-roof solutions provide the answer to any issues about aesthetics.

“We have for some time been looking for a partner to provide products with the technical credentials and that are manufactured in the UK that we could recommend. The Romag RI system can integrate seamlessly with new and existing roofs and are compatible with our whole range of roof tiles and slates and are suited to both new build and refurbishment products.”

Phil Murray, Deputy Chief Executive at Romag added “We are delighted to be working in partnership with a roof tile manufacturer who understands the importance of providing added value through added assurance to our customers. By sharing our technical expertise we are jointly able to offer a 15-year roof integrity guarantee when our RI system is installed alongside Russell’s range of concrete tiles. This is a unique proposition which has been developed to offer a fully integrated PV solution and is precisely what our customers have been looking for. We look forward to working closely with Russell Roof Tiles and providing an unrivalled offer in the market for roof integrated PV.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Kathryn Greenwood .