Nailable solar shingles for the home

New solar shingles can be installed in the same way as traditional roof shingles, saving both time and money on solar roof installation

Spotted: Aside from cost, one of the biggest factors slowing the uptake of solar panels is the way the panels look. Realising this, several manufacturers have developed photovoltaic roof tiles – solar tiles that can look like standard tiles. However, GAF Energy is the first to develop solar tiles that can also be installed the same way as their non-solar counterparts. 

The GAF Timberline Solar shingles can be nailed down in packs, just like the everyday shingles used on normal, non-solar roofs. This means that it takes days instead of weeks to install a GAF solar roof. The shingles are made of a sandwich of glass, polysilicon solar cells, and a top layer of fluorinated alkane ethylene polymer. They are fire and impact-resistant and can even be walked on.

GAFs nailable tiles are much cheaper than many alternatives, and about half the cost of the Tesla Solar Roof. It takes around 400 square feet of the tiles to supply a six-kilowatt system – about the same amount of space as a rack-mounted solar panel system. The rest of the roof can then be filled in with normal GAF shingles designed to match the solar shingles and give a neat appearance.

Other solar power innovations recently spotted by Springwise include greenhouses that produce their own solar energy, perovskite cells printed onto building steel, and a solar-power building facade.

Written By: Lisa Magloff