When Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Solar Roof in 2016, it was the primary that many individuals had heard of solar shingles. But the concept of a roofing product that may each generate vitality and mix in with common asphalt shingles has been round for many years.
Companies from Dow Chemical Company to the now defunct BP Solar have given the solar shingle a shot, however many of those merchandise are not on the market. Solar shingles have been costly to manufacture and set up, and will not be but as environment friendly as common solar panels. That’s saved them from breaking into the mainstream.
Now GAF, one of many largest roofing corporations on the planet and a division of privately held Standard Industries, is launching a brand new solar shingle effort. Its sister firm, GAF Energy, simply launched a product referred to as Timberline Solar, which the corporate says can be cheaper and more dependable than Tesla’s Solar Roof. It simply received the Best of Innovation Award for Smart Cities at CES.
What units GAF Energy aside
“We’re a part of the world’s largest roofing producer. We have entry to supplies that typical solar corporations haven’t got entry to,” mentioned Martin DeBono, President of GAF Energy. “No one has ever particularly tried to make a solar product {that a} roofer can set up. And we have accomplished it, and our product goes on with only a nail gun. It goes on twice as quick as typical solar.”
Timberline Solar may be nailed to the roof identical to an everyday shingle, which GAF Energy says will cut back the complexity and value of set up. At 17 inches tall and 64 inches lengthy, the shingles are additionally bigger than Tesla’s, which means there are fewer elements to manufacture and fewer particular person wiring connections, which the corporate expects will even lower prices whereas rising reliability.
However the bigger and bulkier design additionally signifies that GAF Energy’s shingle would not mix in in addition to Tesla’s product, which is sort of indistinguishable from regular roofing materials.
GAF Energy says its deep ties to the roofing sector will even assist it save on gross sales and advertising and marketing bills, because the firm can entice solar clients from the massive pool of individuals already coming to GAF for a brand new roof.
“The pure second to truly put solar on a roof is that second if you’re already about to substitute your roof. It makes actually no sense to put model new PV on an previous roof that is nicely into its guarantee,” mentioned David Winter, Co-CEO of Standard Industries.
Winter says that one out of each three asphalt shingle roofs within the U.S. is a GAF roof. “So we are the folks which are sitting on the proverbial kitchen desk with the house owner at that second that they want to substitute their roof, the place we will introduce the concept of solar.”
According to Wood Mackenzie, buyer acquisition prices often make up 23% of the full value of a residential solar system, so saving right here could possibly be key.
GAF Energy additionally touts the truth that it assembles and partially manufactures its shingles at its facility in San Jose, California. While the corporate imports its PV cells from Thailand, it believes that having some home manufacturing is advantageous.
“What that permits us to do is take enhancements in our product from the lab and get them to instantiate within the product very, in a short time,” DeBono says. Alternately, groups would have to fly abroad to execute modifications. “And what you see is modifications to your product take quarters and years, actually, whereas right here it takes hours and days.”
Questions stay
Only actual world efficiency over the product’s 25-year guarantee will present if GAF Energy has actually cracked the code to an affordable and dependable solar shingle product.
GAF Energy didn’t present CNBC with particular pricing data, although DeBono estimated that on common, Timberline Solar may value about twice as a lot as changing a roof with regular asphalt shingles.
“Let’s say in lots of elements of the nation, you could have a 15 thousand greenback value for the roof. Getting a solar system, including that might be one other fifteen thousand,” DeBono mentioned.
Getting a $30,000 solar roof could be far cheaper than something on the market at present, and will value lower than getting a brand new roof plus common solar panels.
For comparability, Tesla’s projected value for an average-sized 1,700 sq. foot Solar Roof within the Bay Area is about $40,700 earlier than solar subsidies. But Tesla’s product has been identified to value a lot more than preliminary estimates. The firm was hit with a class-action lawsuit final yr after it dramatically hiked Solar Roof prices for purchasers who had already signed contracts. (Tesla later instructed some clients it might reverse the worth will increase, in accordance to authorized filings.)
The effectivity of GAF’s shingles in a real-world surroundings can also be an open ended query, since earlier solar shingle merchandise have not been comparable to common panels.
“They basically function at a decrease effectivity,” mentioned Barry Cinnamon, founding father of Silicon Valley-based solar installer Cinnamon Energy Systems. “And the reason being that they are flush with the roof and the roof is sizzling. And so sizzling solar cells do not work as effectively as cooler solar cells in standard modules.”
GAF Energy says that it is utilizing high-efficiency mono-PERC cells, which carry out higher than conventional monocrystalline PV cells at excessive temperatures. Yet given the Timberline Solar shingle’s dimensions and its said 45 watt capability, in ideally suited situations it might nonetheless generate much less vitality per sq. foot than Tesla’s newest 71.7 watt shingle or an average-sized 300 watt solar panel.
At the time of CNBC’s interview with Cinnamon, GAF Energy’s shingle had not been launched. But talking about solar shingles usually, he was uncertain that they might ever enchantment to the plenty.
“I actually do not see something that is going to change with any of those elements which are going to make it a widespread mainstream product. I believe it is at all times going to be a distinct segment product like a elaborate sports activities automobile.”
Yet Gabriela Bunea, Senior Vice President of Solar R&D at GAF Energy, maintains that Timberline Solar can be ready to compete when it comes to value, effectivity and reliability.
“It is my hope that possibly in 5, ten years if you find yourself desirous about altering your roof, you’ll choose the solar roof, as a result of it makes financial sense, as a result of it is enticing and since you’ll have the identical guarantee as the remainder of the roof.”
Watch the video to see CNBC’s early look inside GAF Energy’s R&D and manufacturing facility in San Jose, California, the place it is assembling Timberline Solar shingles.
–Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
