Are solar roofs the hype of the century or the height of technology? By TREENA HEIN 10 l ROOFINGBC l SPRING 2018 COVER A t this point, everyone in the roofing world has heard about solar shingles. These are different from solar panels attached over your roof – they are the roof. High-end electric car-maker Tesla has introduced photovoltaic tempered glass roof tiles (Tesla Solar Roof), but it’s not the only game in town. Dow Chemical Company started R&D on solar shingles in 2008, and its first and second-gener- ation products, POWERHOUSE 1.0 and 2.0 solar shingles, were installed starting in 2011 on 1,000 buildings across 18 states. In 2015, Dow released a new version (3.0), which is cheaper and more efficient. For unknown reasons, it shelved the whole thing in 2016, but revived the technology in October 2017 through a partnership with RGS Energy, perhaps due to the market being ready and/or Tesla’s entrance on the solar roof scene. RGS states that POWERHOUSE 3.0 is more economical than solar panels and pre-orders are now being taken. Pennsylvania-based CertainTEED now offers another solar shingle system called Apollo II, with high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells that the firm claims will capture the most energy per square foot of any solar shingle. Forward Solar Roofing of California offers tempered glass-metal tiles in eight colours that also offer the industry’s highest efficiencies. CATCHING SOME RAYS