A recent interview* with Dow Chemical (by ICB editor Joe Chang) reveals that the company estimates sales potential for its new solar shingles of around $5bn by 2015 and $10-11bn by 2020.
The company unveiled yesterday its line of DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, said to be a revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The solar panels are made of low-cost, thin-film CIGS (copper indium gallium deselenide) photovoltaic cells.
The solar shingle systems will be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011.
In the interview, Jane Palmieri, managing director of Dow Solar Solutions (DSS), said that that their solar shingle system will cost on average 10% less than applied solar panels - those that are bolted onto rooftops, and 40% less than similar building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems.
The use of Dow's solar shingles in a home would typically offset between 40-80% of power usage, or 2-4 kilowatts (KWs), said Palmieri.
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What about other roofing styles? Australian homes are usually built with tiles, not shingles, and get a lot more sun than most of the US.
Hi Adam,
That's actually a good question. Back when I used to live in the Philippines, houses usually have either aluminum roofing or tiles (not particularly good during typhoon season!) and we have plenty of sunshine to harvest for solar energy too! I'll ask that when I talk to/see them next time.
they look much better than normal solar panels