growing pains
Even though the housing market is depressed and the economy is hobbling along, the timing is felicitous for these systems. Energy efficiency is front-of-mind for most consumers and solar is more popular than ever. (Even the Obama administration is set to install solar panels on the roof of the White House.) According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) in Washington, D.C., solar experienced huge growth in 2009.
“A doubling in size of the residential PV market and three new CSP [concentrated solar power] plants helped lift the U.S. solar electric market 37 percent in annual installations over 2008 from 351 MW [megawatts] in 2008 to 481 MW in 2009,” states SEIA’s 2009 solar year in review.
Monique Hanis, the group’s director of communications, says more competition among manufacturers and a scaling up of the industry have resulted in lower solar prices. Federal, state, and municipal incentives also have made it easier for consumers to say yes to solar.
As evidence of solar’s renaissance, Hanis points to a Duke University paper, “Solar and Nuclear Costs–The Historic Crossover,” which concluded that progressive price declines now make solar cheaper than nuclear energy. “Solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants,” John O. Blackburn and Sam Cunningham write in the July 2010 report. And the decline will only continue, the authors said. In fact, solar might soon be on par with electricity. “We estimate that we might see grid parity by 2016 or somewhere near that time,” Hanis says.
Manufacturers are feeding off this momentum and believe their seamless solar roofs will play a role in driving down costs further. Dow, for example, states that prices for its products will be cheaper “because the conventional roofing shingles and solar-generating shingles are installed simultaneously by roofing contractors.” Custom-Bilt Metals makes a similar claim about its product.
“By focusing on two core principles, simplicity and a lower cost of installation, we’re delivering a better solar power system,” says Tony Chiovare, president of Custom-Bilt. “Additionally, we are providing builders, contractors, and their prospective customers with an ROI [return on investment] report to help them determine their payback period and to understand how much of their total power consumption they stand to offset.”
take and give
The promise of lower cost is not the only benefit; aesthetics is another. CertainTeed says that the “aesthetically pleasing” installation of its product “overcomes the largest objection to the acceptance of solar panels.” The products are more flexible so homeowners can reduce or increase the installation size, and the lightweight design requires no rooftop penetrations, making it easier for contractors to install while maintaining the roof deck’s integrity.
But a seamless solar roof is not without flaws. Hanis says “thin-film products are lighter, less expensive, and are more flexible,” but there are trade-offs. “Thin-film solar has way lower efficiencies [than traditional silicon],” she explains, “so you would need to use more thin-film to get the same energy output as silicon.” Solarbuzz, a solar research and consulting company in San Francisco, agrees. “An average crystalline silicon cell solar module has an efficiency of 15 percent, [while] an average thin-film cell solar module has an efficiency of 6 percent,” the group says.
And while an integrated solar roof is much more attractive than a traditional roof-mounted installation, it doesn’t “disappear” as much as you think—or at least as much as you or the neighbors may wish. Depending on the roofing material and color—clay tile, say—the solar cells are still visible from the curb, even though there is no perceptible physical difference from the roofing. In other words, the roofing and solar panels often are the same shape or lie flat on the deck, but the color difference is notable.
Regardless of style or performance, the decision to specify solar is money driven. Solar-integrated roofing is cheaper to install, but it’s still a big ticket item—with or without rebates. “For me, it all comes down to budget and the inspiration for having solar,” says architect Ed Binkley, of Ed Binkley Design in Oviedo, Fla. “If it is to try to reach zero-energy, be off the grid, or the pure principle then I think it’s great. If payback and upfront costs are a concern, then probably no.” But even on a tight budget, solar could be viable, Binkley says. “The good news is the systems keep going down in price, and hopefully the incentives and rebates will kick back in to offset some of the costs.”