DOW Chemical's New Solar Shingles

[d.n.f.]

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ari...solar-shingles-integrate-solar-power-rooftops

Old news but new to me. Way cheaper than existing solar shingles and more efficient.

Give this tech another five or ten years. On a roof coming to you soon.

 

[peakbagger]

A freind of mine that was a long term PV installer in California was hired to wire up a large solar shingle array for a demonstration event in California. It was part of some major energy event where governors and congressmen wandered around having their pictures taken for photo ops. After my friend and his partner finished wiring the panels to code over several hot days, they decided that no rate of pay was worth the hassle they went through. Every shingle had a thin gauge wire that had to be threaded through a hole in the roof sheathing into two alternating tracks to accomodate the shingle pitch. After verifying that the wires didnt get damaged while installing the shingles, they then had to series and parallel the panels (that were about 10 watts apiece) and run all the wires down wiring gutters to the combiner box. This was all done during normal working hours in a hot attic in california. He also had done some of the stick on PV's that atttached to standing seam roofing, they were a bit easier as the majority of the wiring occured at the ridge vent but he preferred to do convetional installations. I expect that the added cost to install shingles plus the added wiring costs are going to doom this approach except for boutique applications.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm surprised that they don't come out with regular panels like galvanized metal roofing. Easier to nail down and there would be less connections to make.

Matt

 

[EatenByLimestone]

My house uses between 300 and 500 KWH/mo depending on the time of year. That's about 60% of the average home's usage. I've read it's somewhere around 900kwh/mo for the average home. Since I'm on a budget plan I pay $136 a month. It would take 16 years for the roof to pay for itself without counting any tax incentives. With rebates I might be looking at 8 years or so.

A whole neighborhood roofed with those shingles could make a major dent in generation needs. With that, infrastructure maintenance and upgrades would be drastically altered...

Matt

 

[SolarAndWood]

I'm surprised that they don't come out with regular panels like galvanized metal roofing. Easier to nail down and there would be less connections to make.

Matt

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/2006-10-01/Easy-Solar-Power.aspx