Dow Solar Shingles Now Available in Northern California and Central Texas

 
Dow recently announced that it was expanding market availability of its solar shingles, the solar shingles are now available in Northern California and Central Texas (San Antonio and Austin, Texas).

In Northern California, the clean energy shingles are available through Town & Country Roofing and Dority Roofing; in Central Texas, they are available through BELDON Roofing Company, Quality Roofing and Ja-Mar Roofing.

We’ve covered these solar shingles many times, but for anyone new to this technology, the shingles protect one’s roof the same as normal shingles would, but they also act as power generators via their incorporated solar photovoltaic cells. Dow’s “Powerhouse Solar Shingle” comes with a 20-year warranty and “has received seven performance and safety certifications, including the backing of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) certification, California Energy Commission Certification and is proven to withstand rain, hail and wind uplift.”

An included monitoring system delivers real-time production and consumption information that can be viewed online.

As we’ve noted before, solar power generally improves the resale value of a home, and I assume that holds true when a home is equipped with solar shingles rather than traditional solar panels. “Houses with solar sell on average twice as fast as comparable houses without solar, and adds to the total home value,” said Kasey Dority, President, Dority Roofing.

It’s unclear what these solar shingles cost, and as always, I’d recommend looking into all the options available to go when going solar. But if you’re deciding between roofing your house with standard shingles or solar shingles (not interested in going solar in some other way for some reason), my bet is that solar shingles pay off better in the long run. But let us know if you have any info from looking into the matter.

Sources: Dow & Dow
Photo Credit: Dow Solar