By Kelly Pickerel |March 7, 2022

CertainTeed Solar Apollo II

Focusing on roofs rather than solar

The solar shingle with the most real-world experience is the Apollo II product from CertainTeed. On the market since 2013, Apollo can be installed on both asphalt shingle and concrete tile roofs (and slate and cedar-shake roofs). Mark Stevens, CertainTeed’s solar product manager, said the industry can expect a next-generation design within the next year, but right now the Apollo II solar shingle tops out at 77 W, using two seven-cell rows.

Rather than covering an entire roof with solar tiles, CertainTeed keeps its solar shingle to 46- by 14-in. and allows traditionally sized CertainTeed-branded asphalt shingles to be used around the perimeter of the Apollo array. And although CertainTeed doesn’t make concrete tiles, the Apollo system can still be used on that specialty roof without custom tiles.

“We’re a vetted solar shingle. We’ve been around almost 10 years. We know what our product is and how it performs,” Stevens said. “But right now, solar roofing is only 2% of the market.”

That is why CertainTeed offers full-sized solar panels in addition to its solar shingle. Both products are assembled through an OEM in San Jose, California.

“It’s important for us to have [traditional solar panels and solar shingles] to have a good presence in the industry. It gives us a good option and a better option,” Stevens said. “Apollo gets people interested because it’s low-profile [and] aesthetically pleasing. Then they see the price is slightly more.” But CertainTeed installers can offer traditional rack-and-solar-panel systems as a cheaper alternative.

CertainTeed Solar Apollo II

The key to CertainTeed’s success is working through its existing network of dealers. Customers may reach out for a bare reroof and then open to the idea of solar after talking to one of the thousands of certified CertainTeed roofers across the country.

“Solar shingles have been out for a while. But having a company like GAF and CertainTeed bring that information to roofers is a big deal,” Stevens said. “It’s a struggle for those Dows and SunTegras to have those connections. They’re approaching roofers, but it’s a challenge because they’re not already associated on the asphalt shingle side.”

Like CertainTeed, GAF and its solar division, GAF Energy, is turning to the company’s existing network of asphalt shingle roofing installers to generate buzz around GAF’s solar roofing product. Also already involved with full-sized module installations through its DecoTech offering, GAF Energy is now shifting focus to its new nailable solar shingle: Timberline Solar Energy Shingle.

Comparison of GAF Energy’s DecoTech product (full-sized solar panels) and Timberline Solar (solar shingles)

“Our thesis from a design and development perspective was, ‘Let’s make a roof that can generate electricity vs. trying to take a solar form factor and squeeze that down to fit on a roof,’” said Reynolds Holmes, GAF Energy’s VP of services and product management. “GAF Energy is partnered with a company that has almost 10,000 certified

contractors who are installing asphalt shingles. If you could take that base of an asphalt shingle, design a way to make [solar] installable just like an asphalt shingle, not change the labor force, not change the tool set but be able to provide electricity and energy through that product — I think we could knock it out of the park.”

The Timberline Solar shingle is approximately 64- by 17-in, while the solar portion (one row of 16 half-cut cells that generates 45 W) measures 60- by 7.5-in. That extra non-solar portion is actually TPO roofing material and is nailed to a roof.

GAF Energy Timberline Solar Energy Shingle

GAF Energy Timberline Solar Energy Shingle

“We designed it to be handled by one person with a nail gun. We reached that max length of anything longer than 60 in. of rigidity became unmanageable for a single installer,” Holmes said.

Timberline Solar is installed alongside Timberline Solar HD shingles, which are specialty sized (40-in.) asphalt shingles for the solar roof. By having both products divisible by 10, the staggered pattern of shingles made by roofers can still easily be laid down. The whole Timberline Solar system (which is assembled in the 50-MW GAF Energy manufacturing facility in San Jose, California) was designed for ease of installation — the connectors are on top of the solar shingle and covered with a protective shield after the roof is fully installed.

Texas roofing company Roof Fix is one of those 10,000 GAF dealers that will install the Timberline Solar product as it rolls out across the country. Shaunak Patel, home advisor at Roof Fix, said the company also previously installed the DecoTech product and was often fielding questions about other solar shingle companies, especially Tesla. Patel liked to reiterate that it’s more advantageous to work with a roofing company rather than a technology developer.

“Tesla is effectively a rack-mount system. You have a ton of penetrations in your roof. You have all these potential failure points, especially from a company that doesn’t do roofing,” he said. “We’re a roofing company. We’re not a solar company that’s trying to do roofing.”

While GAF Energy’s and CertainTeed’s solar roof products aren’t as visually cohesive as what Tesla is attempting, Holmes said realistic demands on aesthetics are not what’s impeding growth of the BIPV market — scale is.

“You have to design and develop a great product that has an accessible price point, but you also have to build the infrastructure to scale this product,” he said. “The thing we’ve leaned heavily on and made design decisions maybe against being the highest power is making sure it’s installable by this 10,000-strong network. At the end of the day, if you have a great product that meets all needs but there’s no one who can install it, you might as well not have a great product.”

Original Information Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/03/roofing-companies-take-the-lead-in-solar-shingle-race/