Below are two Schüco Premium solar water heating panels set in-roof, flush with the roof line, ideal for a family of up to 4. Installed by Soltrac in a traditional Wiltshire village.

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The panels look really neat set against the tiles. They are not a visual intrusion at all on an old roof. Note the small Velux roof window to the left of the panel. Each solar panel is 2152 x 1052 mm in size, and each produces up to 2kW of useful heat in full sun.

A close-up showing the flashing (the metal units that surround the panel and ensure water does not penetrate the roof). The metal is sealed with a rubber gasket all round the panels and extends under the tiles on the sides and at the top. You can see the bottom 'skirt' of flexible metal that sits over the bottom tiles.

In-roof systems also work well on slate roofs, as this example shows. However, in contrast to tiled roofs, such an installation is only practical when all the slates have been taken off and are being re-installed – or on a new roof. This is because slates are nailed to the battons at their top edges, so making it difficult to take out and replace individual slates once the roof covering is in place. And once put back the individual slates look messy because of the clips (or traditional 'tingles') needed to hold them in place. In this case the slates were taken off the roof (which had to be done anyway), the panels were installed with the flashing kit (the metal surrounds) and then the slates put back working from the bottom row to the top.

Work in progress. The panels are fastened to the rafters through the battens, and then the flashing kit added around it. Each of the four sections is held to the panel in a groove with a rubber gasket. Tiles or slates are then replaced, working from the bottom to the top. Note that here is an array of two panels in landscape-adjacent format, ideal where the roof is shallow.

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© Soltrac 2010