ALUPROF’s innovative photovoltaic skylight, which is based on the company’s MB-SR50N EI profile, has received a REI30 fire rating, confirming that the solution is of the highest technological class. The skylight combines security and quantum dot photovoltaic functions.

The MB-SR50N EI skylight is an example of the dynamic development of window technology, which now makes it possible to integrate traditional functions and power generation. It combines the ALUPROF profiles with photovoltaic glazing featuring innovative, quantum-dot technology, thanks to which, the solar cells in the glass are invisible, while the glass itself remains completely transparent, allowing natural light to stream into the interior to the full.

At the same time, the skylight is part of the roof of the building, every aspect of which has to meet high fire safety requirements. In the event of fire, everything that constitutes the roof should guarantee the structural capacity for a sufficient length of time and limit the spread of flames, allowing people to be evacuated and ensuring the safety of rescue teams. These requirements also apply to glazed aluminium and glass window structures, in other words, roof partitions.

In a fire-rating test carried out on the skylight in July, in conjunction with ML System SA and Vetrotech Saint-Gobain, the MB-SR50N EI received a REI30 classification. This means it meets all the requirements for fire endurance (R), fire integrity (E) and fire insulation (I) and that it retains its fire resistance for thirty minutes.

Wojciech Kulej, Product Development Director for ALUPROF SA, provides an insight into the product:

This roof partition solution is unique on a global scale. It not only boasts fire- resistant properties, but, at the same time, thanks to the use of a quantum dot coating on the glazing, it also allows free solar energy to be generated. Using this technology could be a major breakthrough in the energy balance of buildings.

Photovoltaic glazing with a classic, silicon solar cell can also be used in the ALUPROF MB-SR50N EI skylight. This variant of the system has attained the same high fire rating.