The idea appears apparent: Why put solar panels on a roof when you could possibly simply make the roof out of solar panels? However Tesla’s try to design a solar roof didn’t go nicely: The solar tiles turned out to be difficult to set up, and the ultimate worth for patrons has typically grow to be tens of thousands of dollars higher than they had been quoted. However GAF Energy, a spinoff of the world’s largest roofing firm, launched a new solar roof right this moment that it believes can succeed—and that would assist radically pace up the adoption of residence solar.
“The potential for solar is gigantic, however we haven’t come shut to assembly it,” says Martin DeBono, president of GAF Energy, which is a part of guardian firm Customary Industries, which additionally owns GAF. “When you might have a heritage in roofing, and also you see solar panels going up the identical approach in 2020 as they had been put up in 1990, yeah, you understand there’s a chance for innovation.”
[Photo: GAF Energy]The new design, known as Timberline Solar, builds solar cells into a customary shingle. “All you want to set up the solar shingle is a nail gun,” he says. “It goes up similar to a common shingle that may be nailed on the roof like some other shingle.” It required a number of rounds of innovation to work—like different shingles, it had to type a waterproof barrier to shield the house. It had to be fireproof. And it had to be one thing that staff may stroll on if that they had to entry the roof. The engineers labored to discover the right materials and type to let mild by way of, so the solar cells inside may generate vitality, whereas assembly the opposite necessities.
[Photo: GAF Energy]As a result of it may be nailed down, the solar shingle might be put in in a short time—in two days moderately than the weeks required for different solar roofs. That signifies that it’s a lot inexpensive. Different solar roofs additionally spend as a lot as $5,000 per buyer in advertising and marketing bills. GAF, which is partnering with GAF Energy on the undertaking, will work with its community of hundreds of roofers to share the product as an alternative. “When it rains out, that’s all of the promoting a roofer wants,” DeBono says. “Folks name roofers.” The corporate additionally used supplies which can be out there at a a lot bigger scale than the specialty supplies in aggressive merchandise.
[Photo: GAF Energy]“We’re half the price of a Tesla solar roof,” he says. “However we’re consistent with conventional solar rack mounted solar. And this actually makes the choice for a house owner who is considering going solar very straightforward to get a solar roof—it’s a superior product.” The aesthetics are higher, he says, and the financial savings from the shift to solar may cowl the price of shopping for the new roof. The shingles can generate as a lot vitality as conventional solar panels overlaying the identical space.
Roofers within the community will assist householders consider whether or not their roof gets sufficient daylight to be a good candidate for solar energy, after which GAF Energy will use its personal software program to calculate the place the solar shingles shall be positioned. It is going to additionally get solar permits and ship supplies, and when the set up is full, it sends electricians to join the panels to the grid (every panel simply plugs into one another throughout set up).
The corporate expects that its strategy will assist get solar on roofs way more rapidly than it might have in any other case occurred. The roofing trade is 20 instances bigger than solar, and round 5 million roofs are changed within the U.S. annually, versus 200,000-300,000 householders that set up solar panels, DeBono says. If solely 10% of roofing prospects select solar shingles, it may eclipse the present trade.
