Solar Shingles About to Blow Up?

June 9th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan

We’ve had our eye on solar shingles (and alternative to traditional solar panels) since 2009.

“Dow Chemical Company revealed a new line of solar shingles they say can be installed into roofs made of conventional asphalt shingles. The solar shingles should be available by mid 2010 in a limited supply and then readily accessible by 2011,” Jake Richardson wrote in October, 2009.

“One day, a person would no more think about buying a house without solar shingles than they would buy a house without plumbing. That is our hope, at least,” said John Cleereman, Senior Director of Solar Development at Dow Chemical Company.

So, what has happened? Are solar shingles up on people’s houses? Are they readily accessible or going to be readily accessible this year?

Solar Shingles Coming to Market

The first solar shingles were installed on a couple roofs in 2010. And, now, a new Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle manufacturing facility is being built in Michigan. The plant is expected to begin production in 2012 and is projected to create 1,275 jobs by 2015.

“This new facility will increase production capacities of the Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle and create advanced manufacturing jobs that are helping to make Michigan a ‘green tech’ hub of the new U.S. economy,” said Earl Shipp, Dow’s vice president for Michigan Operations.

Mark Wahl, co-owner of Cobblestone Homes, which has installed some solar shingles and praised the easy, quick installation process, said: “for Dow to take that to a mass market is really big…. Our company deals with solar panels, but we have to bring in an installation firm. Because builders can install these shingles, Dow will be able to easily sell them across America.”

A pilot plant is intended to produce solar shingles for a limited market by the end of this year while the larger production plant gets built.

Cost of Solar Shingles

The cost of an individual solar shingle has not been revealed yet, but “the estimated cost for a Michigan homeowner — with tax credits — to install solar shingles and an energy converter box is about $11,200.”

What do you think? Are solar shingles about to transform the solar power playing field? Or more hype than promise? (Or something in the middle?)

h/t CalFinder Home Solar

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FA53KB4PEXWW33OU4X2CX7XOCY ecd.fan

Dow delayed making these Powerhouse solar shingles available to the public about 2 years because of a persistent moisture build-up problem inside the encapsulated cells. Can anyone show any reports or data where this has been cured….or is Dow just hoping for no fires and setting aside a huge amount of money for likely litigation and warranty claims?
Electricity and moisture don’t go well together.
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  hmm, haven’t heard anything since the news of the first commercial roll-out in CO
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Sixpackshuey

I hope Solar shingles are the wave of the future, and with every new solar roof installed in American from this day forth will bring us into the new age of self-dependence instead of us buying oil from countries that hate us and then use the money to kill us.
B Hernacki

I’m a residential re-roofing conrtactor in the Seattle area. Solar is not BIG here – but re-roofing is. With some exception most houses need to replace their roofs every 15-20 yrs. Cost is already $10 to 30K. If the delta for solar shingle isnt that great – there would be a good market even here. ASSUMING the singles are reliable as roofing and can eisily integrate w traditional asphalt shingles.
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Anonymous

Denmark: net energy exporter, on Wind Turbines alone! Germany: curtailing all ‘nuclear’ by law! Surviving well, and outside the reach of the “Great American Corporate and Capitalist Propaganda Whore’s” ridiculous “American Dream” and her “sales pitch bull Shiite” too! Even her ridiculously dangerous Fuckoshima styled plutonium making, bomb plant reactors now shunned, world-wide. Solar, Wind, Wave, Hydro, Tidal, Geothermal, Bio-mass, Anaerobic sewage and farm manure digestion for methane gas, Top-Soil building fertilizers, even methane gas burning home heating units using engines to generate electricity, catch heat from the same fuel burnt only once! A Two-for One gain over Americans and their sadly wasteful practices, poor ass-holes!

Solar: The ultimate answer! Taylor your lifestyle to the energy you get for free, renewable or perpetual depending on your belief system and where you were educated, grow a garden, even do communal sewage and manure digestion for methane gas fuel, and top-soil building fertilizers, at the same time! Look to only light manufacturing of essential goods, expect most of these to be imported from Asia, where the American Capital fled to, in the first place. Seek clean water, fertile soil, and work hard searching the net, even “Off Grid” folk can help here, for technologies to make your new lifestyle more comfortable and understand: you were so “Sold Out” by your Capitalists – no guilt for the paradigm shift is on you, Patriot!
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks
- Ed
  
  Dear UncleB, you do not have a clue how thing really work. It is a shame that you do not get your head out of your butt and see the real sunshine. Your way of doing business would have the USA looking like Europe except for Germany. I suggest you go find a cave to live in and relive the 19th century, if you can
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Legacylife

We really need more information on this particular system. With regard to the investment in solar energy in general, though, I do agree that it can be wrapped into home loans or recovered in sale prices (at some point beyond this recession heading for a depression that we’re in). That’s not a benefit everyone can capitalize on though. I’m 57, working on recovering from losses when I should be getting everything paid off so I can afford to live in this country as a senior. Not to get off on another topic, but affordability, for reasons like mine and a multitude of others, will be key over the next ten years. Technology for painting solar chips onto surfaces is in R&D…perhaps worth waiting for.
sola

The $11K figure means exactly NOTHING without the parameters of the system.

What is the peak power of the system for $11K? Is it a 2KW system? Is it a 5KW system? It is not the same, you know.

What is the expected service life of the $11K sytem? Is it 10 years? Is it 30 years? It is not the same, you know.

Although, this looks like some serious new development in the solar area, this article should have been posted with the basic facts researched first.
- Anonymous
  
  Hey, sorry sola. There is no ‘basic info’ on the company site. And I reached out for info beyond what was in the article I where I found out about this with no response. I could have provided less info (not mentioned the $11K bit), but I don’t thank that would make anyone much happier.
  - Areroldan783
    
    maybe a little more research wouldve been ideal. $/kW DC is the way to go, and you’d compare it to 5.00/kW DC roof mounted, no rebates or tax credits, consumer price.
- http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/ Neil Blanchard
  
  I wonder as well, how do these hold up on a roof, with the occasional broken branch (though shade over a solar PV array doesn’t make sense)? I wonder why they would not be used right up the gable end eave? Obviously the valley would not be useful.
  
  Also, is the cost of the roof shingles on the rest of the roof included in this price — do they come from Dow as a “set” or do you have to find your regular shingles from another source?
  
  Neil
Legacylife

There’s no mention here of the manufacturing footprint…something I’ve learned to keep an eye on. And I agree that the price will have to come way down for the average home owner. It would take nine or ten years just to recuperate that investment in my home. And how many square feet does an $11,000 investment heat…with what appliances?
- Sandeen
  
  Doesn’t matter much how many square feet it “heats” – (well, for one, they produce electricity, not heat) – but there is no requirement for a solar installation to cover 100% of a home’s energy use. 80%, 50%, 20%, and 5% are all better than 0%. Yes, you need to look at the cost per watt, or cost per kWh over the lifetime of the devices to decide if they break even eventually but whether or not it covers all your use is a different conversation…
  - Anonymous
    
    thanks for adding this. good points, of course
- Ashli Norton
  
  11K is nothing. 11K is less that what ‘the average homeowner’ spends on crappy woodlike cabinets or granite countertops.
  
  Again 11K is nothing even though I am sure the number will be higher. I am EAGER for these shingles!!!
http://twitter.com/kywasp Clyde Saye

I think this could really take off, IF they can get the installed price down to a much more affordable level. Eleven grand is too much to spend on an average home. Three would make it a winner.
- john
  
  No it is not that expensive; its that it is a long term situation with all the money upfront and for a society unable to think long term THAT is the real problem. Banks need to loan the money; most people can’t buy a house – they get a loan and over the long term they pay it off while they live in it; seems like one of the few areas where people do think long term. I’d rather pay up NOW and in 10 years get free energy for 10-20 more years.
  - guest
    
    the problem with your line of thinking is that most people will not own the same house for 15 years or end up paying off their loan before moving. Why would a consumer spend the 11K if they will never see the break even point or increase the value of the home by the 11K installation price? dont get me wrong love the idea and i do believe that 1 day we will all have solar incorporated into our houses but i do agree with the other comments that either the cost needs to come down significantly or the system must be highly effiecient for the price to not be a barrier to entry for most homeowners.
    - http://zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan
      
      you may be right with some, but i wouldn’t say all. houses with solar energy sell for more (for the obvious reason that people will save on their electric bills). some may be deterred if they don’t plan to live somewhere for 15 years, but some may take into account that they’ll be able to sell the house for more.
    - Anonymous
      
      you may be right with some, but i wouldn’t say all. houses with solar energy sell for more (for the obvious reason that people will save on their electric bills). some may be deterred if they don’t plan to live somewhere for 15 years, but some may take into account that they’ll be able to sell the house for more.
      - Jeffhre
        
        True Zachary, a homeowner could easily save $1200 a year in energy costs, or $3000 a year if they also added a Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt or Ford Focus to their garage. If they stay the average six years of most homeowners, saving $18,000, having a new roof, and the added value in the house will more that make up for not buying that BMW or Audi they were thinking about.
        
        If it’s 15 years then…wow.
        
        Have the costs dropped or has availability gone up in the past 9 months?
    - Maury Markowitz
      
      Just roll the installation into your mortgage the next time it comes up for renewal. In the meantime, use some alternate means of financing that’s still tied to the house – a home-backed line of credit, for instance.
      
      PACE systems are another great idea. Here the money is lent by the bank, but paid from the tax rolls. That means the panels are effectively owned by the city, not the homeowner. They naturally flip to the new owner when you sell the place.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KDAJT2FB3U5GEYDLAE74GQXQQU areroldan
  
  most solar systems on bills 250 and higher will see payback within 4-5years.