Thursday, February 11, 2010

Solar Shingles Heat Up

Check out a recent story I wrote for Technology Review on a new plug 'n' play solar shingle from Dow Chemical.  Dow plans to release a small test batch of the solar embedded shingles later this year and while they haven't yet announced who will get them, I think they'd compliment my solar hot water system quite nicely.

My guess is this and other attempts to merge solar panels with conventional building materials will initially cost a premium and the technology will likely encounter some hiccups along the way.  But, eventually, I think solar embedded shingles will become a standard part of new roofs. Like one industry analyst told me, "two hundred years ago they didn't build buildings with electrical systems in the walls and wiring buildings was a really expensive retrofit.  Today, its standard practice."

Image Credit: The Dow Chemical Company

5 comments:

Richard Turner said...

You should carefully consider all of the costs involved before installing solar panels.

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Ragnarok said...

The cost of solar panels is usually a pretty good deal since you can get rebates for them.

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Unknown said...

Solar power is a great investment for the home, but the problem has been the tedious installation and the bulky panels. However, take one look at the new solar powered model home, and you will wonder where the panels are hiding.

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