by Catharine Beale

Created on: December 03, 2009

New bright idea for roof shingles: Solar cells. Two things have stood in the way of roof-top housepower: (a) Sky-high costs and (b) they're obvious at best, ugly at worst. Now, several companies are rising to the challenge with photovoltaic pseudo-asphalt roof shingles that are increasingly affordable. Some are modified panels designed to give the appearance of a block of asphalt shingles, laid side by side. Other shingles look like the real asphalt thing, with built-in silicon cells and a texture that would fool the pickiest Homeowners Association. More recently, razor-thin cell technology has appeared in shingles that not only look but feel like your grandmother's rooftop shingles. Solardachstein's STEPdesign shingles, from a German company, are said to look so authentic, they even make brown photovoltaic cells to comply within landmarked districts - in Berlin, at least, where authorities have approved their use on a school protected by its special zoning codes. Tiles, made from recycled plastic, come in a choice of 5 roof-ready shades. Dow Chemical's Solar Solutions unit, which is already trumpeting its line of "Powerhouse" shingles (still 2 years from retail), has started to test drive its rooftop powerplants. They come very close to the look of common, asphalt shingles. SunPower Corporation produces shingle roof tiles that are entirely black. The idea is for them to seem to blend into the rest of the Flat or Asphalt roof.

Solar Components Corp.'s "Uni-Solar" PV Shingles were named in Popular Science Magazine's annual "Best of What's New" list. They also won Discover Magazine's Technological Innovation Award. The company donated a new roof to the Michigan goveror's mansion, laying Uni-Solar shingles over the top to generate power to its residents. The first homeowners to jump on the solar-roof bandwagon have been those living in regions where it never rains or snows, not a cloud in the sky. This is important, because anything "solar" depends on a ready supply of photons to keep it fired up. However, many roofs in snow-country are pitched steep enough that snowflakes can't accumulate before sliding down. Besides, these units still generate power on cloudy days. They just generate less. And this is only the beginning. In December 2009, researchers at an Australian university announced a new technique of creating photovoltaic energy output. Experts are calling it the "next generation of solar cells".

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