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Polycarbonate Roof Panels: A Guide to Plastic Polycarbonate Roof Panel Sheets
By Anna Walter
Polycarbonate has a solid reputation as a durable, energy-efficient, and cost-effective material. Owing to these benefits, it is widely used in the architecture and construction industry. Along with windows and doors, polycarbonate is also extensively used in roofing. We will address all the common concerns regarding polycarbonate roofing in this blog. So follow along to understand polycarbonate roofing in detail.
What is Polycarbonate?
Before getting into the details, let’s understand a bit about polycarbonate first.
Being a little technical here, polycarbonate is a lightweight thermoplastic polymer with high optical clarity. It has a very high strength value and can withstand high temperatures. Due to these properties, polycarbonate finds a plethora of applications in different industries.
Polycarbonate Roofing: What You Should Know!
Polycarbonate is a versatile material with a myriad of applications. However, a huge part of polycarbonate’s growth is indebted to its utility in roofing. Polycarbonate roof panels are widely used in commercial and residential buildings due to their low-cost value and high durability.
Injection molding, structural foam molding, vacuum forming, blow molding, or extrusion techniques are used to create polycarbonate sheets. These sheets are then turned into roof panels. Considering the roofing area only, polycarbonate sheets are used in industrial roof lights, greenhouses, conservatories, covered walkways, insulations, swimming pool covers, garden coverings, power distribution units, bus shelters, and canopies.
Types of Polycarbonate Roofing
Polycarbonate offers a high level of design flexibility. Different variants of plexiglass roof panels are available in the market to meet different sets of requirements. Here are the most-used types of polycarbonate roof panels.
- Solid sheets
- Textured sheets
- Twinwall and Multiwall sheets
- Corrugated sheets
Let’s have some detailed insights into different types of plexiglass roof panels.
- Solid Sheets: high-quality thermoplastic that resists UV radiations
Solid roof panels are plain polycarbonate sheets that are made up of high-quality thermoplastic. The transparent sheets allow a high degree of light transmission while filtering out the harmful UV radiations of the Sun. Solid roof panels are impact resistant and offer a long service life.
Solid sheets are ideal for protective screens, bus shelters, greenhouse covering, windows, doors, skylights, and security glazing.
- Textured Sheets: beautifully designed sheets and can withstand thermal changes
As the name suggests, textured roof panels are embossed with some designs. It gives a frosted glass-like look. These sheets not only offer aesthetic enhancement but also put up high weather endurance. Textured panels can withstand extreme chemical and thermal conditions without getting damaged.
Texture sheets are typically used in displays, roof lights, and commercial and residential roofing.
- Twinwall and Multiwall Sheets: potentially unbreakable and ideal for roofing
Multiwall roof panels have multiple layers of polycarbonate sheets. When the panels are composed of two layers of polycarbonate, it is termed as twinwall panels and for more than two layers, the panels are called multiwall sheets.
Polycarbonate, itself, is a strong material but when two or more layers are combined, it becomes potentially unbreakable. The ideal strength makes these types of panels a popular choice for roofing. The temperature insulation also increases with the number of layers. Regardless of the number of layers, the sheets still remain lightweight and easy to handle. All these benefits combined, deem multiwall polycarbonate sheets to be the perfect choice for roofing.
Twin wall and multiwall polycarbonate sheets are usually used in conservatories, lean-to roofs, canopies, vertical glazing, roof lights, walkways, swimming pool covers, and insulation.
- Corrugated Sheets: ideal for commercial use for having daylight harvesting properties
Corrugated polycarbonate sheets are a preferred choice for industrial applications. Although many homeowners also choose corrugated sheets, these panels are particularly known for their daylight harvesting properties. This roofing is employed in warehouses to facilitate temperature insulation and durability.
Corrugated sheets are widely used in commercial roofing, glazing, swimming pool coverings, and greenhouses.
Why Choose Polycarbonate Roofing?
We see a lot of buzz around polycarbonate roofing, but is it worth it? Let’s find out.
Here is a critical view into the benefits polycarbonate and plexiglass roofing provides.
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High Strength Value
Polycarbonate is a super-solid thermoplastic. It is almost 250 times stronger than conventional glass which has justified its utility in roofing. With this strength value, polycarbonate roof panels would be able to withstand harsh weather conditions. So you don’t have to worry about the impact of hail storms and severe winds.
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Energy Efficiency
Polycarbonate and plexiglass roof panels have high optical clarity which allows the daylight to come in while also providing a high degree of thermal insulation, thus, minimizing the need to use heating or cooling systems which ultimately leads to a considerable cut back on the energy bills.
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Design Versatility
If you don’t like going with the flow, polycarbonate roofing is for you. You have a wide design choice in polycarbonate. It can easily be molded into any type of sheet, turned into any shape, and tinted with any color to suit your design preferences. You can channel your aesthetics with polycarbonate.
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High Transparency
Another reason why polycarbonate serves as such great material for roofing is its ability to filter the harmful radiations out. Polycarbonate allows almost 90 percent light to pass through while filtering the harmful UV radiations. Thus polycarbonate roofing allows you to safely rely on the natural means of light more as compared to the artificial ones.
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Easy to Handle
The lightweight of polycarbonate is a big reason why constructors prefer it over other materials. No matter how many layers of polycarbonate are fused together, it still remains lightweight, easy to handle and install.
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Long Service Life
When it comes to durability, nothing can beat polycarbonate. It stays intact for a minimum of 10 years without getting discolored or damaged in any way. Moreover, it requires very low maintenance.
Cost Effectivity
Polycarbonate is an extremely useful material. It offers great thermal insulation, high optical clarity, easy installation, durability, and all that in a very affordable price range. Compared to the other roofing materials, it is particularly easy on the wallet and provides a lot more benefits than the other materials.
Are There Any Downsides to Polycarbonate Roofing?
Polycarbonate is a desirable material for roofing. However, there are some ups and downs to every package. The only reported drawback of polycarbonate is that it’s prone to scratches. If not properly maintained, it can get scratched or even dented.
Final Thoughts!
All the above-stated benefits suggest that polycarbonate is a great choice for roofing. Many people are using polycarbonate and plexiglass as alternatives to glass. They, sure to be durable and cost-effective picks, so go for it and make a solid roofing choice.
