Dow Chemical Rolling Out Solar Shingles Next Year

Several users wrote to tell us that Dow Chemical plans on selling solar shingles as early as next year. The solar version can be integrated with normal asphalt shingling and will be introduced in 2010, with a wider roll-out scheduled for 2011. "The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells. Dow is using CIGS cells that operate at higher than 10 percent efficiency, below the efficiencies for the top polysilicon cells -- but would cost 10 to 15 percent less on a per-watt basis."

Comments

One more thing to break indeed!

[PeterAitch]

It seems unlikely that these will weather very well, so we'll have to see how they cope with thermal cycling and storm stresses. Nice to note that things have moved along since I worked on Si photovoltaics - it's taken longer than I expected, though

Re:One more thing to break indeed!

[icebike]

The point about walking on roofs is a key issue.

Over the life of a house, people have to do this more often than you might imagine. The article is thin on details about just how durable and walkable these things are.

Probably not for snow country, but anything that could absorb some of the air conditioning load would be welcome.

Re:One more thing to break indeed!

[swillden]

Disposal is a larger issue. Even you average wood shingle is will last 100 years in a land fill. Asphalt is anyone's guess.

I suspect that within 50 years we'll be mining our landfills anyway, so I don't worry about that issue so much.

Installation?

[seanadams.com]

They say these can be installed by standard roofing techniques... I don't know if anyone else has ever nailed down asphalt shingles but it's about as low-tech as it gets. So the question is how do these interconnect electrically?

I could imagine a couple ways - perhaps there are contacts that need to be aligned prior to nailing. Either that, or they intend for an electrician to come in after the roofers and attach a bus bar or something. Anyone got the full story?

The future for residential solar is not in the highest-tech, highest efficiency panels. Rather, it will be the system which gives the lowest $/W after ALL costs, including installation, depreciation, and in this case, savings because it also serves as your actual roof. Sounds like a great idea to me.

Re:Installation?

[microcars]

There is a home that my son-in-law built just north of Chicago that has "Solar Slate" installed in portions of the roof that match the asphalt shingles. It was installed by a local roofing company around 2003, you can see a photos of the install HERE.
Did not RTFA and while these are slightly different than what is mentioned these things have apparently held up very well so far for the people that live there.

Sort of an aerial view of one part of the house with the slates installed here.

If you can't see the photos you probably crashed the guy's server, I think it is hosted on his home computer...

I beg to differ.

[NoYob]

Dow Solar Solutions said it expects "an enthusiastic response" from roofing contractors for the new shingles, since they require no specialized skills or knowledge of solar systems to install.

What?!? Roofers just lay out the shingles and nail them up there with pneumatic nail guns. They may not have the skills to wire them, place the wires correctly under the regular shingles to not only preserve the solar shingles but to make sure none of the shingles leak, and I'm sure you can't treat these things like regular shingles: drop them off the truck on to the ground, crane them up to the peak of the roof and let them fold over it and sit there for a couple of days until the installers get there, walk on them, and every other abuse can commit against asphalt shingles because they can take it, after all.

There will have to be some sort of training or there's going to be some really unhappy home owners when their new solar roof doesn't produce as much electricity, if any, as they thought because of screwed up shingles.

Repeat Ten Times Fast

[audubon]

Sally sells solar shingles by the seashore...

DoW Chemicals?

[ijakings]

Paint them red, they will charge faster.

My brother

[poptones]

Yeah, he puts on "rooves."

Now, let me ask YOU this: can YOUR whiny ass carry a pack of shingles up a ladder in 100 degree sun? Have you ever even been ON a roof?

Contractors are responsible for the contracts, not the roofers. It's not the greasy, sunburnt guys working their asses off who steal your money - it's the well dressed fellow sitting in the truck watching them work who takes your money.

That said, I don't think any of you have read TFA. These are thin film shingles. There are demo videos on youtube - you can see them press holes in the shingles, even drive nails through them and they still work just fine. These are not silicon and glass, they are thin film on some sort of flexible substrate. And it's about time.

Eagle roofing has had durable shingles for a while

[Brigadier]

Not sure why this is being posted as if it's a new product. Eagle Roofing based in California has been carrying a fairly successful product for some time now. Not only do they have a warrantied usable product but it also supports LEED cool roof requirements. see link below to check it out for yourself.

http://www.eagleroofing.com/greenBld_eagleSolarRoof.htm

Yuk!

[AliasMarlowe]

assfault roads

I do NOT want to drive around your neighborhood...